A Hero and his Wolf
by Sancto
Summary: AU-ish, As a young child, Link's family is killed during a moblin raid on his home village. During his escape, Link meets a terrified wolf cub in a similar predicament to him, and the two form a bond. Over the years, the bond grows as do both boy and pup. The two become inseparable, and for the problems that are ahead, an unbreakable bond will triumph over all.
1. A bond is formed

"A true friend is one soul in two bodies."- Aristotle

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><p>Link was running. All around him, angry and scared shouts were bellowing in his ears. His village was burning, his mother and father had been murdered in front of his very eyes, and there were moblins chasing after him.<p>

Four year old Link could not understand what had happened. He had been peacefully sleeping in his bed, when he was awoken by loud shouting and running from outside his room. His door was slammed open by his father, who was followed quickly by his mother, carrying a candle and panicked expression.

"Get up!" his father roared. "Be prepared to run!" He yanked young Link out of his covers, and lifted him onto his shoulders.

"What's happening?" Link cried, overcome by all the action. His father's reply was interrupted by screaming from the nearby house, followed by loud beastly grunts.

"Moblins…" Link's father growled, leading the family out of the back of the house.

"What do they want?" his mother whispered, staying out of the torchlight.

"Whatever they can get their hands on." Link's father replied quietly, lowering Link down onto the ground, letting his bare feet squelch in the damp mud. He quietly took his bow off his back, and drew and arrow. "I haven't seen this many attack a village in such a long time…"

Link's father stopped as they all heard a loud bellow from behind them. A large armoured moblin had worked his way through the village and was flanked by more moblins, all brandishing clubs or bows. Link's mother gasped and turned Link's gaze away from the moblins, but it was too late. Link had seen the dead bodies of his fellow villagers, all piled up in a heap behind the armada of moblins.

The leader of moblins grunted loudly as Link's father ushered his family back slowly, never taking his gaze off the moblin. A moblin behind the leader acknowledged this and raised his bow, aiming straight at Link's father.

"Get away!" Link's father had shouted. Link and his mother gladly obliged and ran, his mother pulling him by the hand. Link's head had not turned to where they were running to, and he screamed as an arrow plunged into his father's chest, quickly followed by another. His father didn't have time to shout out, and slumped to the floor, blood spilling out and staining the grass deep red.

Link's yell caught his mother's attention, who turned around and screamed in agony at the sight of her dead husband. Tears streaking down her face, she shouted, "Keep running Link! Don't stop!" With this, she pushed Link away behind her, but he stood still, overwhelmed.

"Link, what are you…" his mother started to shout, but grunted as more arrows were let loose from the moblins, slamming into her back. Her eyes rolled backwards in her head, and she slumped forwards.

The moblins let out horrendous, bestial laughter as she collapsed onto the ground, which to Link sounded like a booming storm. Link turned and fled, more arrows chasing his footsteps as he ran. He managed to dodge the arrows which came thick and fast, threatening to stop the four year old in his tracks. Link managed to reach the treeline of the forest, which completely surrounded his now burning village. The flickering of the inferno from the houses illuminated the entire treeline, allowing the moblins behind Link to track his progress.

They were unable to keep up with the nimble four year old, as they were heavy and slow, but had sheer numbers on their side. The lead moblin, wearing his dented and battered armour pointed in the direction that Link had fled, and two moblins chased after him, swinging their clubs menacingly.

Link kept running, jumping over tree stumps and fallen logs as if they were not there. Branches whipped at his exposed legs, drawing blood. Panting, Link slowed down as he saw a familiar clearing in the forest, with a small stream trickling through. He caught sight of a small den, which his father and he had made to play in. Without thinking twice, Link slid into the den, concealed by the damp moss which shrouded the entrance.

Link steadied his breathing, and then realised the back of his left hand was shining, dimly lighting up the den, and revealing the blood that was visible on his legs. Link quietly gasped as the light on his hand appeared to show a strange symbol, three triangles with two in a row on the bottom, supporting one on the top. The bottom left hand triangle was shining brightly, and seemed to only be getting brighter.

Link's attention was brought back to reality, as he head yelps and more grunts from nearby. He poked his head out of the den, and his eyes widened as he saw a young wolf pup darting out from the woods, panting heavily and terrified. It stopped at the stream, and through the moonlight, Link thought he saw streaks of red covering the pup's black fur, which the poor wolf was trying to remove, but only causing itself more pain. It startled, as did Link, as they both heard more yelping and a loud cracking noise, presumably bone.

The pup whined and started darting away from the noise, in Link's direction, its head turning in all directions. The shining light on the back of Link's hand caught the attention of the pup, which stopped in his tracks as Link's eyes met the pup's. Link said nothing to the pup, but gestured with his hand towards himself, inviting the pup in to safety. He remembered his father warning him that all wolves were dangerous, no matter how young they were, but this seemed to be an emergency.

The wolf pup needed no second invitation, and darted into the den with Link, nuzzling up to Link's body, covering the shining from Link's left hand. Just in the nick of time as well, as the moblins soon made their way into the clearing. Link closed his eyes in fear, thinking that the moblins would find the two of them, and finish their existence. He held the wolf pup close, feeling the racing heartbeat which matched his own, and just wished for an end to the madness. He didn't open eyes, but felt a strange sensation, almost as if something was being shared between his frail young body and the wolf pup. He felt a tingling sensation in his left hand as both bodies calmed down, and thought it was just the panic settling down. Little did either of them know how wrong he was.

Link woke with the sun early the next morning, hungry and worn out. The wolf pup had kept him warm all night, and seemed to have woken with him. With a yelp, the pup got up, and darted out of the den where they had slept. Link steadily crawled out of the den after the pup, and shivered, missing the warm fur of the pup already.

His train of thought was stopped as he heard a soft whining noise coming from nearby, and he slowly walked over to the noise. He stopped as his eyes found the source of the noise, and felt tears start welling up as he registered what he saw. The wolf pup was howling in front of the corpse of a fully grown wolf, obviously the mother.

"I'm sorry…" Link thought, as quiet sobs began to come from his throat. The wolf cub stopped howling immediately, and turned around as soon as Link had thought it. Staring at Link, the pup made a few quiet whimpers and started edging towards Link.

"Was that your mummy?" Link asked softly. The cub barked in response, which surprised Link. "Can you understand me?" he whispered, reaching out with a hand towards the cub's furry head.

The cub paused, but barked again, as if saying yes. It walked forwards, and met Link's hand with its head, rubbing against it. Link was stunned, as although he was young, he knew that wild animals could not understand humans, but this cub seemed to understand him?

"If you can understand me, bark twice." Link said in awe. The pup quickly barked twice, showing that he understood what had been said.

"I'm going to go back to my village and see if anyone survived. Do you want to come with me?" Link asked, feeling a sudden sense of loneliness. The cub seemed to take in its surroundings, but then stared back at Link, and barked, seemingly nodding his head. Link smiled, and started walking off in the direction of his village, casting a last look at the cub's dead mother. "'I'll take care of him, I promise", he whispered. The pup barked happily at this and chased after Link, obediently walking at Link's side.

"Do you have a name?" Link thought. "Bark once for yes, twice for no." The pup barked quietly twice.

"Would you like a name?" Link pondered, to which the pup replied with a single bark, showing his enthusiasm.

Link thought long and hard as they worked their way back to his village, jumping over the occasional ditch and fallen tree. "How about… Rogue?"

The pup seemed to squeal unhappily at this suggestion, making Link giggle. "What about 'Shade', as it fits with your fur?"

The pup seemed to cock his head, before barking twice happily. Link laughed and stroked the pup's head. "Alright, you are now 'Shade'! Nice to meet you Shade, I'm Link!"

Shade barked in response, rubbing his dark head against Link's legs. Link suddenly stopped walking, as the remains of his village came into view. Link felt his legs stagger as he saw the charred remnants of houses, and piles of bodies. His breath hitched as he saw the bodies of his mother and father, dumped in a pile. He began crying softly, and Shade stayed close as Link began to run down into the village remains, crumpling down by the piles of bodies, tears dripping down his face as he saw everyone who he had grown up with, dead and lifeless.

Some time passed, and Link began growing weak. Shade kept close to him, trying to comfort him. Link felt the earth shaking near him, and thought the moblins had returned, to finish him off. Glancing up, he was overjoyed to see multiple Hylian soldiers on horseback, all dismounting.

"Oh my goodness, we have a survivor!" one of them shouted, before rushing over and soothing Link. "Was this your village, lad?"

"Y…Yes" Link sniffled, Shade staying at his heels as the soldiers kindly lifted him onto his feet.

"Good lord, you weren't injured by the monsters were you?" another soldier asked.

"No, but my parents…" Link began, before his voice cracked and broke down into more tears.

"Poor sod…" one of them sighed, before he registered that there was a wolf pup next to the snivelling infant. "Um, is that wolf pup with you?"

"Yes…" Link murmured. "His mum was killed by the moblins, and has no one else. We sheltered together in the woods last night, before we made our way back here just now…"

The soldiers all began quietly talking at this point, before they heard the rumbling stomachs of boy and wolf. "When was the last time you ate?" one of them hurriedly asked.

"Yesterday evening…" Link groaned, as Shade whined next to him.

"Here, there is some cold meat in this pack", one soldier said. "Unfortunately, you can't stay here anymore. We'll take you with us now, and decide what to do when we get there…"

"Thank you…" Link murmured, as he ripped open the pack, and shared the sliced meat between himself and Shade. Both wolfed down their portions, before they were lifted onto one of the soldiers horses, and rode back with them to Hyrule Castle, and on towards a new life. Both boy and cub, and eventually, Hero and Wolf.

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><p>AN: Welcome! I've had this idea for a story rattling around in my head since the end of my last fic. Just for those who have read the previous stories, this is not related at all to the previous stories, and takes place in an alternate universe, but assuming all the same things eventually take place. Timeline-wise, this takes place before OOT, but has no relation to that game either, but will use some of the characters from said game.

Enough of that though. This story should be a fair bit longer that both my previous stories, although that may change, depending on my ingenuity. Anyways, I thank you for reading this chapter, and will see you next time!


	2. 6 years later

_6 years later…_

"Jump for it Shade!" Link shouted, crouching down. He heard a blaring roar behind him, and could almost feel the exhilarated breath of his canine companion as Shade came bounding up behind him. He felt the young wolf's paws land on his back, and then immediately spring off, projecting the open-jawed wolf towards the training dummy that was suspended not far above them.

Link heard happy growling above him, and smiled as he craned his neck up to observe his partner at work. Shade was dangling off the ground, biting fiercely into the soft padding of the dummy, his front paws trying to reach up and claw at its underside.

Link whistled loudly, which caught Shade's attention. Giving one final tear for good measure, he released his clench on the dummy and landed gracefully back on the ground and leapt forwards, dodging the remnants of the dummy as it crashed onto the stone floor of the training area where they had been for a good while.

Link released a breath that he didn't release he had been holding, and steadily stood fully up, sheathing the small sword and shield that he used when training with the Hyrule Knights. A small group of them stood at a safe distance, leaning on the wooden banister on top of the circular safety fence. A few let off a few impressed whistles, saying, "Pretty impressive stuff, Link! That wolf of yours sure knows how to finish a target!"

Link smiled at this remark, reaching down to stroke the furry head of Shade, who had now trotted up to him, and was rubbing his head affectionately against Link's hip.

"How you managed to domesticate that savage killer, I have no idea…" one knight said, the mid-afternoon sun glinting off his shining armour.

"Well, having gone through extremely similar things 6 years ago, I think that forms a pretty strong bond!" Link replied, as Shade lay down as his feet, gently panting from his recent exertion, tongue fluttering at his rapid breathing.

"I'm surprised that no authority has forced you to get rid of Shade, in case he attacks anyone innocent…" another knight chimed in, scraping a sharpening stone along the length of his sword.

"I think anybody could tell that we are inseparable…" Link smirked, gazing down at his friend's lazy form, slumped at his feet.

Upon arriving at Castletown after being found by the soldiers, nobody knew what to do with the young farm boy, who was weirdly accompanied a small black wolf cub. Some thought that Link would be sent off to the orphanage, separated from Shade, and it was seemingly likely that it would happen. Fortunately, the captain of the Hyrulian Knights, Captain Richard Flank took pity on Link and his companion, and took both of them in, recognizing the strange but strong bond between the two of them. Under the wing of the captain and his wife, Link and Shade grew even closer, Shade obeying Link's every word, and respecting all the other Hylians the two encountered.

Captain Flank did at one point wonder whether Shade was going to overpower Link at some point, and become too big and powerful to obey and respect Link. However, by some freak of nature, it seemed that the two seemed to grow at the same rate as each other, with a 6 year old wolf being the same size as a 15 month old pup.

At the age of 9, Captain Flank decided that he could start couching the young Link, and begin turning him into a future Hylian Knight and combatant. The moblin raids on Hylian settlements were becoming a more frequent and dangerous problem by the month, and Hyrule would need all the men available to fend them off in the future and prevent attacks altogether. And given the experiences the two had been through in the past which involved moblins, it seemed certain that Link would become a capable moblin slayer in the not too distant future.

It was during a gentle training session involving Link and the captain that the idea of teaming up in combat with Shade first appeared. Shade had up to this point usually lay at the side of the sparring floor, watching Link with intrigue. At one point, the captain had seemingly been about to slash his sword at Link's chest, which worried Shade. He had rushed in front of Link, growling at the Captain, protecting Link. Most people would have got angry at this, being threatened by a wolf, but not Captain Flank. He saw the dedication and care that Shade had for Link, and started formulating the idea that they fight together, and ever since, the two had started developing a formidable strategy together, that not even the most experienced knights could counter.

Link's gaze was drawn up from his snoozing wolf to see his mentor, Captain Flank sidling up between the other knights.

"Yes, Yes. Impressive as always Link!" he smiled, flashing his sparkling teeth at the 10 year old. Shade's eyes slowly opened as he heard the familiar voice, but made no noise, silently eyeing up the tall knight.

"Anyways…" the captain continued, "I'm heading out for LonLon ranch now, checking that there have been no more sightings of moblins in the local areas."

Link perked up. "Can we come with you, sir?" he said, mentally scolding himself for almost forgetting the 'sir'.

Captain Flank paused for a second, working out the logistics. "I don't see why not…" he shrugged. "Just keep that beast of yours under control around the farm animals…"

Link smiled. He had rarely left Castletown since arriving after his village was razed, and enjoyed every opportunity he got to see the lush grasses of Hyrule field and beyond. Sluggishly, Shade got to his paws, and yawned wide. He followed the captain along with Link, and from a distance, the other knights were able to glimpse a small light glinting on his front left paw, almost similarly to that of the light that kept showing up on Link's hand. They shook their heads at this. There couldn't be a connection like that between them, could there?

Not too much later, the carriage carrying the captain, Link and Shade clattered between the gates of LonLon ranch, mud splattered all over the recently pristinely cleaned wheels. Despite obeying all of Link's commands faithfully, Shade still had natural lupine urges in him, so Link did have to restrain his furry friend whenever Shade caught sight of a rabbit running near the carriage. Shade had seemed to have calmed down now, not reacting as the pair heard the loud lowing of cows as they jumped down from the carriage.

"Now Link…" the captain called out to the young boy. " We are not going to be here for long, so don't go too far. Have fun, but don't do anything stupid whilst you are at it…" He gazed at Shade now, whose ears were now pricking up at the sound of cuccoos nearby to them, and sniffing the ground eagerly. With an almost comical sigh, the captain walked up to the door of the farmhouse, where he was soon greeting by the beaming Talon, who nodded towards Link and Shade respectfully, before welcoming the captain in, shutting the door.

Link smiled as he and Shade breathed in the fresh air of the ranch, before slowly making their way into the large corral in the centre of the ranch. Both their ears pricked up, Shade's as he picked up the sound of cuccoos again, and Link's as he heard a beautiful singing voice. He ignored Shade, who was now tracking the scent of cuccoos to a nearby barn, and started walking through the opening in the coral, admiring the tall and powerful horses as they galloped around him. He however stopped as he found where the singing voice was coming from, a small redheaded girl slap bang in the middle of the corral, where she was singing to a small chestnut foal, which was listening attentively.

Walking up to her, Link was surprised when she stopped singing, and turned around, a curious look on her face as she heard him approach. This puzzled look soon dropped, and a wide smile appeared on her face. "Hi, I'm Malon!"

"Nice to meet you, Malon!" Link politely replied, remembering what Captain Flank had taught him about respecting women, and being chivalrous. "I'm Link; I live with the knights of Hyrule in Castletown!"

Malon's smile widened further. "Really? How exciting! I knew we were having someone come over to check on the moblin situation, but didn't know they were coaching people our age! What about your parents?"

Link's smile faltered at the mention of his parents, which Malon noticed, her eyes widening. "Oh I'm sorry, I…"

"Don't worry about it…" Link breathed calmly, reassuring her. "It happened a long time ago, but they aren't around anymore…" He stopped talking, as he noticed the foal nervously staring at him. He gestured towards the foal. "Beautiful foal…"

"Isn't she just?" Malon beamed, her happy demeanour returning as she gently stroked the foal's neck. "She was born recently, and I called her Epona!" The foal neighed happily at mention of her name, which Link chuckled quietly at. "Reminds me of another certain furry creature…" he thought. Looking back to Malon, he furrowed his brows as he saw her sudden panicked expression. "What?" he asked.

"Don't move!" she hissed, eyes never moving from something in the distance.

"What's going on?" he whispered, feeling slightly nervous at the situation.

"There's a wolf at the entrance to the corral!" she whispered, pointing over Link's shoulder. Feeling a surge of relief, Link turned nonchalantly, and whistled loudly. Shade had been standing at the entrance leading into the corral, watching the scene before him after having gotten bored with the scent of cuccoos. At the sound of Link's high pitched whistle, he barked, and ran forwards to Link, dodging the cantering horses around him. Having reached the Hylians, he gently nuzzled into Link's leg, oblivious to the effect that he was having on Malon.

Link smiled. "Oh, he's fine. We've been together for a while now, ever since I was four…" He petered off, noticing what Epona was doing. Epona was quietly eying Shade, who was returning the intent look. Malon looked down at Shade's sitting form, amazed by the tamed nature of the wolf. "I thought all wolves were wild, savage beasts…" she said, reaching out a tentative towards Shade's head.

"Well, mine's tame!" Link laughed, as Shade noticed Malon's delicate hand. Reaching forwards, he sniffed her hand slowly, before moving his head down, allowing her to stroke his furry head. "I've only really been close to the animals here on the ranch, and never seen 'wild' animals as such…" she giggled, his fur tickling her hand.

Whilst this was going on, Epona had edged forwards, and was snuffling quietly at Link's tunic. Softly, he reached out his hand slowly, as to not spook her. She didn't move her head, so he started stroking her head gently. "Yeah, me neither." He replied, looking at Malon whilst still stroking Epona. "I've been around horses with the knights, but they are all huge beasts hardwired for war, and are never calm. Unlike Epona here…" he said, as Epona turned her head away and snorted.

"She seems to like you, Link!" Malon smiled, as she scratched behind Shade's pointed ears. Shade himself looked as if he was in heaven, eyes closed and tail wagging heavily.

"LIIINK!" came a familiar cry from the farm buildings. The shout disturbed Epona, who whinnied and trotted away from the Hylians. Link sighed as he knew what that meant. "We have to go." He whistled quickly, snapping Shade to attention, and away from Malon's hand. "It was nice meeting you Malon!" he smiled, as the redhead blushed.

"Yeah, you too Link!" she laughed, before saying a bit more seriously, "Hey Link, could you be my, my friend?"

Link paused briefly, feeling Shade's wagging tail slapping his legs gently, before replying, "Of course! I don't get to spend much time with many children at the Knight's academy, so it would be nice to have someone my own age to spend time with. I'll be sure to come along when Captain Flank comes here again!"

This had an immediate effect on Malon, whose face lit up. "Thanks Link!" she responded. Another shout of Link's name was enough to snap him back into action. "See you!" he shouted, as he and Shade charged off towards the awaiting Captain.

A/N: Well, here we are, the second instalment of A hero and his wolf! The next chapter or few will tell more of Link growing up, before it stabilises as he becomes a young adult, as he appears in games. Oh, and if you are wondering if there is going to be some certain type of relationship between Link and Malon, I'm not saying anything… yet.

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><p>Anyways, thanks for reading, and see you next time!<p> 


	3. The first attack

_Five years later…_

Slowly but steadily, a large group of moblins emerged from the shadows of the forest, almost smiling sadistically as they brandished their spears and heavy clubs. A taller, heavier moblin slowly worked his way through their dishevelled ranks, the late afternoon sun dimly reflected off the greasy and stiff armour. The chief moblin grunted quietly as he stopped the group, out of sight of anybody.

They had been given their commands, and they knew their target. Soon it would come by, and they would strike fear into the hearts of all Hyrulians. All they had to do was wait.

Link took an aggressive bit from the apple he was holding, as he sat cooling down after a particularly intense training session with the other knights. Even though he was too young to be a knight of Hyrule, he still trained extensively with the other knights, which was evident in his well-developed muscles. He was a match for any of the fully trained knights, but that was when he was on his own. When he was fighting with Shade at his side, not even the bravest and fearless of the Hyrule Knights wanted to be in the arena with them, as the combination of their attacks was near unstoppable.

Shade had also grown, albeit at the same rate as Link had. Shade was now a fully grow beast, with huge razor sharp claws, and huge teeth that could render any thin armour useless, as he could now bite down and rip the armour as if it was a sheet of paper. His sheer size as well was a weapon, as he charged into any training opponent's legs, and they crumpled to the ground. Despite causing several injuries, the two together were preparing to take on basic guard duties, mainly to be in a relatively close area of Hyrule field to the walls of Castletown.

Link heard water splashing all around him and glanced everywhere to see where it was coming from. He chuckled as he realised the cause of the splashing, hearing the furious lapping from a water bowl near him. It seemed that Shade was just as hot as Link was, as he drained a large bowl of water in no time at all. Satisfied, Shade collapsed at Link's feet, stretching out and settling down into a comfortable position. His eyes were closed, but his ears were still alert, twitching at all the noises that wafted through the air, the heavy clangs of swords on shields from other knights, and the snorts and clomping hooves of the horses in the stable nearby.

Link shifted his head up as he heard the familiar heavy footsteps of his mentor, Captain Flank walking up to his chair. The Captain smiled kindly as he stopped near the pair. "Done training for the day?"

"I think so." Link replied, wiping a small bead of sweat from his forehead. "Just cooling down."

"Well then, may I ask you to do me a favour?" the captain asked, glancing over at the busy knights training behind him.

"Of course!" Link replied, as Shade opened his eyes, staring up at the towering Captain above him with his blue eyes.

"I'm too busy today to head over to LonLon ranch to check on the moblin situation in the fields as something important is happening that I need to oversee…" the captain stated, "so could I ask you to go in my stead? Just ask Talon if he has seen or heard anything. I doubt that he has, it has been very quiet in recent days, but something just doesn't seem quite right about it." The captain paused briefly, before continuing with a more light-hearted tone in his voice. "Plus, you'll get to see…"

"Yeah, yeah…" Link said, waving his hand, knowing what the captain was going to say. "It will take me a while to get there, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Ah, about that…" the captain interrupted, beckoning Link to follow him with a finger. Link and Shade eased themselves to their feet, and tailed that captain into the stables, where their eyes were drawn towards an empty stall. "You'll notice that we have a vacant stall, and I was thinking that you will need a horse as well in the near future, or rather, now."

Link looked at his captain, the gears grinding in his head. "What are you suggesting?"

"Well, whenever we both went over there, Talon and I kept noticing that you spent time with Malon and Epona, and since that horse is now fully grown, we thought that you might want to have Epona, as your horse."

Link stood there, contemplating. He had always had a connection with Epona, as did Shade, so it made logical sense. But what would Malon think, as he would effectively take her horse away...

"I'll talk to Talon about that when I get there…" he replied.

"Well then, you'd better head off." The captain replied, before remembering. "Oh yes, you'd be wise to take your bow and sword, just in case anything crazy happens, which it probably won't."

"Of course, sir." Link replied courteously, before leading Shade out of the room stables, to retrieve his equipment.

Back at the group of moblins at the edge of the forest, the atmosphere was getting more and more impatient, until a messenger arrived, stating that their target was approaching, and that a scout had entered the ranch.

All was going to plan.

Link's legs were started to tire, as he reached the gates of LonLon ranch. Apart from the occasional guay buzzing around overhead, the long trek to the ranch had been uneventful, and Link was glad that he might get Epona at the end of the visit, which would save Shade and himself a lot of legwork.

Shade had been walking in front of Link, sniffing the ground as he went, smelling traces of rabbits and other small animals. However, he stopped in his tracks as they entered the gates of the ranch, ears pricked up. Link noticed this, and slowly made his way next to Shade.

"What is it?" he whispered quietly. If Shade was acting like this, it meant that trouble was rearing its ugly head. Shade let out a small guttural growl, barely audible, and started creeping forwards, silently. Link followed suit, crouching low and drawing his bow, readying and arrow.

Both kept up this stance as they edged forwards, making their way towards the farmhouse, scouting for the danger. Both of them stopped again as they heard a high pitched whinnying come from nearby. Link readied his bow as Shade crouched low, hair stood on end, ready to strike. However, their fears were relieved as Epona cantered around the side of the farmhouse, and caught sight of them. Link stood up as they both rushed over to the panicked horse, soothing her. Link checked all over Epona's body, in case she was hurt, but a new thought sprung to his head. "Where's Malon?" he breathed, anxiety building up.

His question seemed to be answered, as all 3 of them heard a loud male voice shouting whilst a female screamed in total fear. "Malon!" he thought worriedly, as Shade growled again, baring his gleaming teeth. Epona whinnied quietly, moving closer to Link.

Link decided to stop everything, before it got any worse. He saw that Epona already had a saddle and reins on, so was ready to be ridden. He had ridden Epona before, and it had been said by Malon that they worked together like a perfect team, just like Shade and himself. Link calmly stroked Epona's flank, and then steadily mounted her, keeping her still and under control. Once he had settled down, he started moving off slowly, as Shade walked alongside them, ready to pounce. He edged out to the pasture, and his eyes widened at the sight before him.

A large moblin wielding a heavy blade was pointing the tip at Talon, who was wearily pointing a pitchfork in retaliation. It was clear who was winning the war of attrition though, as Talon was breathing heavily and red faced, whilst the moblin was trying to remain cool and collected. He patience was being tested, as Link realised that the moblin was restraining a squirming Malon, having one thick red arm wrapped aggressively around her waist.

Epona and Shade kept moving forwards silently, not disturbing the scene before them. A short distance from the sparring duo, Link halted Epona, drawing his bow and an arrow.

"Keep going." He thought to Shade. "When I shout, go and do anything to protect her, staying low." Shade nodded his head quickly in acknowledgement, before continuing to creep forwards, the front half of his body almost touching the ground.

"Let her go you bastard!" Talon shouted furiously, thrusting his pitchfork forwards. The moblin grunted, and blocked the oncoming pitchfork easily. The force from his counter knocked the pitchfork clean out of Talon's hands, and sent the large rancher sprawling onto the ground.

It was at this moment that Link let loose. Pulling back the arrow, he let out an angry bellow, firing the arrow straight at the base of the moblin's skull. Hearing the shout, the moblin spun around quickly, releasing his grip on Malon, and sending her sprawling onto the grass as well with a loud yelp. The moblin had no time to react, as Link's arrow pierced itself through the moblin's thick cheek, making it squeal and grunt in pain, dropping its blade to clutch at its face. Malon was able to turn around in time to hear and see Shade charging forwards, an image of pure terror. His claws were fully extended, his flashing jaws menacing, his thick dark fur stood fully on end. The bestial roar that he was emanating was truly a thing of terror, that would have sent even the bravest knight running for safety.

Shade slammed into the moblin at full pelt, his claws raking across the exposed belly, leaving ugly red wounds trailing across the skin as the moblin tumbled to the ground, pinned down by Shade's sheer weight. Remembering what Link asked him, Shade leapt off the trembling moblin and instantly changed into a completely different character as he trotted up to Malon, licking her hand caringly, with no trace of violence at all in his system. She crumpled, overcome with emotion, and let out loud sobs into his thick fur, while he whined happily, having seen no severe injuries. Talon had now recovered from his fall, and scurried over to his daughter, who stopped crying and flung herself into her father's arms.

All three turned around as they heard loud neighing, and were transfixed as Link approached, mounted on Epona with sword drawn. Link did not glance at them, instead dismantling Epona, and walking over to the moblin strewn on the ground, which had blood flowing freely from multiple claw wounds and most obviously, the arrow through his cheek. Link had been trained by the knights that no matter how much anger or grief your opponent has given you, you give them a respectful death, meaning that he had to put the moblin out of its misery, rather than leave it to die slowly. But something inside him was niggling at him. "They killed your family Link, he deserves to suffer…" Link raised his sword high, and plunged it through the chest of the moblin, as it breathed its last, eyes slumping to the back of their sockets.

After a few moments, Link pulled his sword out of the moblin, and was immediately hit with the realisation of what he had just done. His first kill. His attention was drawn to the group watching him, and he hurried over, a concerned look written all over his face. "Are you two alright?" he asked, searching for any injuries on either Malon or Talon.

"I think… we're fine." Talon winced as he shifted pressure on his legs. "Though I might have cracked a rib from that last fall."

"What about you, Mal?" Link asked, searching Malon's face for any sign of distress, although it was difficult to do so when her face was covered with mud and tears. The only response he got was a small sob as she flung her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder. "Oh, thank you Link!" she sobbed, emotionally worn out from what had just happened.

Link did his best to console her, whilst taking control of the situation. "When did that moblin arrive her?"

"Not long before you arrived…" Talon replied, glancing over at the firmly dead body. "We were both doing our normal routines around here, when I hear Malon screaming. I turn around and I see that she is being pursued by that ugly bastard over there. That alone sent Epona packing, but I didn't think too much of that at the time. I grabbed my pitchfork as it grabbed Malon and tried fending it off. You then arrived, saving me and my daughter…"

"Why would a solitary moblin come and terrorize you two?" Link interrupted quietly, trying to figure it all out.

"What do you mean?" Talon asked, as Malon broke off from Link, and started stroking Shade generously.

"Well, whenever I've experienced moblins or heard reports from the other knights, they have all been together in big groups, never sending single moblins. So why would one now come here…" Link said, before his eyes started widening.

"What, Link?" Talon asked, seeing the realisation flood over Link's face.

"What if, it was scouting the area, in preparation for something… bigger?" Link said, stepping backwards.

"Something bigger?" Malon asked, looking up as Shade licked her face gently, clearing some mud off of it.

Link paused, as Captain Flank's words started to rekindle in his memory. "Something important… I have to oversee…"

"Talon, is anything major happening today?" Link asked, almost shouting.

"Y-Yes," Talon replied, amazed at how serious Link was being. "The royal family is returning…" he stopped. "Oh my Goddesses! The royal family!"

"What about them?" Malon asked, as Shade sprung up and ran to Link's heel, knowing what Link had realised.

"The moblins are going to ambush the royal family's return in Hyrule field!" Link shouted, as he sheathed his sword and leapt onto Epona's back. He turned back towards Talon. "Talon, light the emergency fire, alerting the town guards that trouble is afoot. When the knights arrive here, tell them what's happened and what I am doing, so they can back me up!"

"What are you going to do?" Malon shouted, as Epona whinnied, apparently understanding the nature of the conversation.

Link looked towards Malon one last time. "I'm taking Epona, and going to try and stop any attempt on the royal family! Take care!" he yelled, before turning Epona around hurriedly. Holding out one arm, Link whistled at Shade, and told him mentally "Jump!" Shade immediately leapt at Link's arm, which wrapped around his Shade, and pulled him onto Epona's back. With both safely atop Epona, Link urged Epona into a full gallop, rushing past Talon and Malon and out of the ranch gates, in search of the royal family's carriage and their inevitable fate.

Not too far away from the edge of the forest, a large, spectacular carriage was calmly making its way forwards, accompanied by a small group of lightly armed soldiers. The carriage itself was adorned with the royal crest of Hyrule, and adorned with two pristine white stallions. The carriage itself contained the 15 year old Princess Zelda and her father, the King of Hyrule. Despite the princess being a carrier of the legendary Triforce of wisdom, both of them and all the guards present were unaware of the huge horde of moblins that had now caught sight of the carriage, and was moving into position.

The stallions reared up, halting the carriage as they saw the multitude of moblins, clearly outnumbering the soldiers that accompanied the carriage. The huge armoured moblin that was in charge of the assembled fighters smiled as the panic started set in, and the moblins closed in. The trap had been set off, and his master's command would be fulfilled. His dark master's plan would now begin.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, the action is certainly starting to pick up now, isn't it? Will Link be able to get to the royal family in time? Will he die horribly and painfully in the process? I hope not, otherwise this will be a very short story!_

_Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter. Please consider leaving a review, letting me know what you did or didn't like, or what you might want to see in the future. I'm open to suggestion, just letting you know… _

_Thanks again, and see you next time!_


	4. Power revealed

Epona thundered out of the ranch, making Link cling onto Shade so that his wolf would not fall. Link urged Epona into a quicker gallop with a small motion of his heels, which Epona responded to rapidly. Link moved Epona around the walls of the ranch, trying to spot where the royal family could be, and hoping that moblins had not found them.

The smell of smoke reached his nose, and he looked up to see the smoky beacon from the ranch, signalling to Castletown that there was an emergency. Glad that Talon had managed to do it so quickly, Link kept following the walls, all the while, Shade kept alert ,his ears pointed and listening, as well as his sensing any trace of Moblins.

All of a sudden, Shade barked loudly, making Link bring to an abrupt stop, which she reared briefly at. Link turned to Shade, who had his head pointing perpendicular to where they were traveling, his large amber eyes conveying the scene which he had spotted. Link too craned his neck, and his stomach lurched as he saw a small army of moblins, all attacking a small group of soldiers, defending the carriage. Link was sure he could hear panicked shouting coming from the carriage itself, but this was soon drowned out, as Shade started snarling ferociously, but didn't give their position away.

Deciding that action had to be taken immediately, Link motioned to Shade, who leapt off Epona's back, adopting a low slung stalking position, the snarl never leaving his face. Link withdrew his bow and an arrow, and spurred Epona forwards, slowly.

As Link and his animal allies approached slowly, they observed as the last brave soldier was knocked to the ground unconscious by a heavy club blow to the head. He joined all the other soldiers on the ground, some writhing in pain on the floor, others straight up killed. Noticing that the carriage had doors on both sides, the armoured moblin grunted, sending moblins to surround the carriage on both sides, preventing any escape attempts. It was obvious that the Princess and King had been planning on escaping, as the sound of a slamming door was clearly visible over chortling grunts of the moblins.

To the surprise of Link, the armoured moblin then started to speak, addressing the royals in language he could understand. "Now… your highnesses. Now that we have time to talk…"

There was an angry retort from the carriage, which sounded like the king. "King Moblin! What is the meaning of this outrage?" Link brought Epona to a silent stop, thinking to Shade, "Wait. If they attempt to get them out of the carriage, I'll fire an arrow. I'll then whistle if I am in trouble. You know what to do then, friend." Shade got the message, and nodded his black head slowly, not revealing that they were not that far from the closest moblin. They all had their backs turned to him, so they had managed to get very close to them.

King Moblin laughed, prompting the other moblins to join in with him. "Why, I'm not after much. Just your daughter, Princess Zelda!"

Link had the same reaction as he heard from the carriage. "So, kidnap?" he thought angrily, slotting an arrow onto his bow string, but kept the bow low.

"What makes you think I would hand over my only daughter, and heir to Hyrule to you?" the king roared. Link heard quiet panicked sobs coming from the carriage, evidence of Zelda's distress.

King Moblin smiled. "This!" He grunted loudly, and a moblin moved forwards, and reached for the carriage door. That was all the Link needed to take action. "Stay hidden!" he thought to Shade, as he raised his bow to his eye, and shouted in defiance. All of the moblins snapped their heads around at the sound, including the moblin who now had his scaled hand on the handle of the carriage. Link released the arrow as Epona reared fully backwards, a truly terrifying sight to see. The arrow shot through the air, impaling itself into the exposed moblin's chest, instantly killing it.

King Moblin roared in anger, and ordered his moblins to surge towards Link. The moblins charged at Link, who realised that alone, he stood no chance against the 50 odd moblins. He drew his sword and shield, and urged Epona forwards, into the oncoming flood of moblins. The moblins were confused, not used to their targets charging headfirst into them. They all split as Link and Epona galloped forwards. Link wanted to draw the moblins away from the carriage and into the awaiting jaws of Shade, who was waiting patiently, ready to pounce. He veered Epona hard to the right, and succeeded in getting the moblins to follow him.

It was then that Link whistled loudly, halting Epona by the awaiting Shade. The moblins were not expecting the true terror of the onslaught that now presented itself to them. Shade leapt at the nearest moblins, his amber eyes unusually red, his razor sharp claws fully extended, and jaws open, a deafening roar being emitted from his throat. Three moblins were blown fully over as Shade slammed into them, raking at their chests, and one was unfortunate to have Shade's jaws close around its throat.

Shade did not this slow him down in his attacks. With one moblin most definitely dead, and another two moaning in agony, he snapped his head up, and snarled ferociously at the moblins in front of him, his upper lip moving with the aggression. The moblins backed up, only to meet with another attack.

Whilst Shade had busied himself with the moblins, Link had dismounted Epona, and charged back into the battle, fully mobile on foot. He winced as Shade had torn at the moblin's throat, imagining the pain that the moblin must have experienced, however short it was. The other moblins were backing up quickly, and Link snuck behind them quickly. With their backs open to him, he slashed with his sword aggressively, creating neat but deep wounds along the backs of several moblins. These moblins met their allies on the ground, as Link and Shade reunited, standing together.

They both looked towards the remaining moblins angrily, who just glanced at each other, and gulped. Fortunately for them, King Moblin now moved forwards in front of them, facing Shade and Link. Link almost had to move in front of Shade, who started snarling and roaring violently at the sight of King Moblin. Link was trying to think why, until he noticed the armour the King Moblin wore.

His memory flashed back to that night 10 years ago, when he first met Shade, and his parents were killed. His memory focused, and he remembered the moment his parents had been killed, and the huge armoured moblin that had ordered the whole attack in the first place, killing his friends and family, and the mother of Shade. King Moblin.

Link looked defiantly at King Moblin, as Shade continually growled at the murderer. Eventually, King Moblin spoke up, "Who are you, who so bravely defend this carriage, and slaughters my minions without a thought?"

"You are one to talk, 'King'" Link shouted, raising his shield. "You talk about slaughter, yet that is all you do. You burn entire villages to the ground, including mine, 10 years ago."

King Moblin was taken aback by this realisation. "Impossible. Everyone in that village was murdered, and anyone who could have escaped would have gotten lost or killed by the creatures in the woods."

"Well, I seem to be the impossible, as does my friend here…" Link spat, gesturing towards Shade, who barked angrily. "We both survived, as you killed his mother only when he was a young pup."

King Moblin laughed at this. "So, you want revenge? That won't bring back your families…"

King Moblin stopped mid-sentence, as he noticed a golden light spilling out of Link's left hand. He did not notice the similar light coming from Shade's paw, obscured by his thick dense fur. Link unwittingly lifted his hand up, showing the symbol of Farore on the back of it. He then spoke, in a wild voice, one that was not his. "Leave this place, now. Never return to pillage, or suffer the consequences. Take this as a warning!"

Simultaneously, Link and Shade surged forwards, Link heading straight at King Moblin whilst Shade kept to his side. Shade leapt high, and ripped the moblin's helmet off of his head. This distracted King Moblin, whilst Link raised his sword, and sliced at the moblin's right arm.

King Moblin roared in pain as the sword sliced cleanly through the bone in his shoulder, severing the limb from his body. As the limb crashed to the ground, King Moblin staggered, and several moblins rushed to support him. Shade landed, and thrust the helmet out of his jaws, landing next to the severed arm.

With this, King Moblin got the message, and ordered his soldiers to retreat. Running as quickly as possible without an arm, King Moblin scarpered, vanishing into the forest en route to their base. This left Link and Shade standing alone, the golden light dimming from their appendages.

As Link regained complete control, he heard the sound of thundering hooves in front and behind him. Epona was trotting calmly up to him, and he stroked her muzzle as she reached him. Link turned his head towards the louder sound of hooves, and was relieved to see a large portion of the Hylian Knights arriving, in full armour. He recognized Captain Flank at the head of them all, who wasted no time in going up to the Royal carriage.

"Your majesties!" he announced loudly, once his steed had halted. "Are you alright?" He glanced with an awed expression at Link and Shade, who stood calmly in the midst of the unconscious guards and dead moblins. "We'll talk later!" he mouthed to both of them, before turning his attention to the slowly opening doors of the carriage.

Slowly but surely, both the King and Princess made their way out of their carriage, clearly traumatised. "Wh... what happened to the Moblins?" the King stammered, looking at Captain Flank confusedly, as Zelda glanced over to Link and Shade with a curious look. Link's expression did not change as she looked at him, but rather smiled briefly as Shade started to Link his hand gently, a true change from what he had been not a few minutes ago.

"With all respect your majesty, I was going to ask you the same question, as we just arrived!" the captain replied. The two paused, before everyone's gaze turned towards Link, Shade and Epona.

Link realised they were waiting for him to speak. "Well, with due respect, I am glad that your majesties are in good health." He bowed politely, Shade dipping his head quickly. "I was sent by Captain Flank to check the moblin situation in Hyrule field with Talon of LonLon ranch, when I found that a single moblin was attacking the ranch from within, which I dealt with. Together, we came to the conclusion that there would be other Moblins where there was one, and so I set off to find the other moblins, who had ambushed the carriage here."

"They were threatening to take me, for goodness knows what…" Zelda spoke up, looking at Shade.

"My goodness, the monsters!" some knights piped up. Their attention was drawn to the bodies of the royal guards, who had now started to become conscious again, and started tending to the injuries, carefully avoiding the dead moblins.

"Well, what happened after they threatened you?" Captain Flank asked, knowing full well what had happened.

"Well, I guess this young man and… wolf dealt with them!" The king replied, looking back to Link and Shade as Zelda moved down from the carriage. "I must admit, as soon as we heard attempts to open the carriage doors, we both panicked, not looking out of the windows. But, I did hear angry shouting, obviously from our young hero and the vicious roaring from the wolf, so I presume that they dealt with the moblins on his own…"

Zelda meanwhile was walking slowly up to Link and Shade, who had his eyes transfixed on Zelda. Link noticed that Shade's jaws were red from the blood, so quickly withdrew a small white cloth from his tunic, and wiped Shade's mouth clean. Shade tried squirming out of it, but ended up with a significantly cleaner face. Zelda giggled as she watched this going on. "I presume that you two work together, as nobody has a pet wolf…"

Link replied respectfully. "Y-yes your majesty. We have been together for a long while now, ever since I was four years old and he was a wolf pup."

Zelda smiled. "And judging by your uniform, you must be with the Hyrule Knights, although not a proper one yet?"

"Again, you are correct." Link replied. "Ever since our families were killed by King Moblin and his minions ten years ago, we have been living with the Hyrule Knights…"

Zelda wasn't listening, instead she was looking carefully at Shade, who stared calmly back at her. "I've heard stories of a young person in Castletown with a large wolf as a companion. You wouldn't be Link, would you?" she asked.

"Yes, your majesty." Link replied, amazed that he was being recognised. "This is Shade, my long-time companion." He gestured to Shade, who watched Zelda's hand as it slowly descended towards his furry head.

"Zelda!" came a shout from the King. Zelda, Shade and Link all moved to where the voice came from, and saw that the king had started moving back into the carriage."

"I suppose I had better go." Zelda said, whilst starting to move back to the carriage. She stopped, before looking back at Link. "Thank you for what you two did. I won't forget this, nor will you." With that, she hurried back up into the carriage compartment, now heavily guarded by some Hyrule Knights, whilst the others tended to the injured soldiers.

Link felt a two noses pressing into him. One was from Shade, who was rubbing his face affectionately against his legs, whilst Epona was nosing his shoulder gently. Sighing, Link mounted Epona, and caught Shade as he leapt up. Urging them forwards, Link followed suit of the Hyrulian Knights, leaving the bloodbath far behind him, along with King Moblin's severed arm and helmet.

Many hours later, King Moblin and his soldiers reached the safety of their base. He had bled profusely, but was still conscious, although pitifully weak. He was taken straight to the Moblin doctors, who clumsily sewed up the wound.

Now, King Moblin was standing in a cold harsh room, in front of the one who had sent him on the mission in the first place. "Now…" came the cruel voice. "Tell me why you have failed in your task."

King Moblin recounted everything that had taken place, but was stopped by his dark lord when he mentioned the light shining from Link's hand.

"Are you positive?" the voice asked, to which King Moblin nodded anxiously. The voice was silent for a few minutes, contemplating. Eventually, a response came. "Excellent. Please, accept this as my reward…"

A pulse of dark energy was sent spiralling into King Moblin, instantly killing him. The figure which had sent the energy stood up, thinking hard.

"So, the third holder reveals himself. Interesting."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, that was a lot of action in that chapter! Shade is becoming a real beast (pun intended) and has shown the first true signs of the Triforce. How will this develop? Who is this mysterious dark lord? (Go on, have a guess)._

_Anways, the next chapter will skip forward another four years, so Link will now be 18, and this is where the meat of the story will begin. This story has only just begun, so buckle up, and don't lose an arm along the way! Reviews appreciated, and see you next time!_


	5. Rescue

_Four years later…_

Shade was crouched low, moving his powerful frame slowly across the forest floor, not making a sound. He was now a fully sized black wolf, and looked every bit of it, from the huge body to the powerful jaws. He stopped for a second, taking in the scents of the surrounding area, scouting for what he was looking for.

Not far behind, Link quickly flit from tree to tree, keeping out of sight. As well as his lupine companion, Link had also fully grown, his muscles fully developed. There was a saying that had been developed around the Hyrule Knight's compound and Castletown, "If you want something done, ask the Hyrule Knights. Want something done well? Ask Link and Shade". This was no mean saying, as together, they had repelled countless moblin attacks since he had cut off the then King Moblin's arm.

Despite all of this, Link had still not been enrolled in the Hyrule Knights, having only just reached the age at which he could 'enlist'. This mission that he and Shade were on at this moment would be the final one before he would be official 'knighted' as such. Despite their namesake, the Knights of Hyrule were not official knights, although many of them went on to become so.

Link ducked low, sneaking to where Shade was still crouched, scanning the area. Despite being the middle of the night, Shade's vision was a major asset to them both, foiling many midnight attempted raids on Hyrule. Shade froze his head, as he seemed to have caught track of something. Quietly, the two began moving off, Link following closely behind Shade. Crawling over tree stumps and through shrubs, Shade halted as the two came to the opening of a small clearing, with the light from a large camp fire flickering under the dense treeline.

Moving silently, Link edged his way over to a large bush, and looked around it into the camp before them. On first glance, it seemed like an average moblin camp, three or four small tents and a small armoury of clubs and bows in plain sight. Shade growled quietly as he and Link saw two moblins emerge from the tent, and begin tending to the fire. They both had a panic moment as one of the moblins glanced in their direction, but continued plonking more firewood down.

Link's attention was drawn to Shade, who was nosing his thigh gently, and then gesturing with his head towards the very centre of the camp. Link followed Shade's line of sight, before seeing something the curdled his blood, and his inner rage against moblins start to show. There was a small post in the centre of the camp, easily visible from all four tents. There were thick ropes tied to the post, and all of the ends were wrapped around the limbs of a young girl, who had a dirty rag stuffed in her mouth to keep her whimpering to a minimum.

The girl was one of the maids to Princess Zelda, and had not turned up to the Castle for several days in a row, causing a panic from within. Reports from the forest had come in of hearing a girls screams, and so Link along with Shade had been sent to investigate. He even recognised the girl, as she had attended the royal family's inspection of the Knight's compound, serving on the Princess.

Link thought quickly, about how he was going to get them all out of there unscathed. He had to get rid of the two alert moblins, or risk them alerting his presence to the others, who were most likely asleep in the tents. Link caught Shade's attention, and pointed over to the part of the forest directly in front of the moblins. "Get over there, and make some loud rustling noises to distract them…" he thought. "That will give me time to silently get rid of them, and we can then get out of here, along with the poor girl as well."

Shade was immediately on the case, sneaking like a shadow over to the place indicated. There were some leaves on the ground, which he started moving around with his paws. The rustling noise snapped the moblins to attention, and they cautiously started to creep over to the noise, hoping to ambush whatever had made the noise.

Taking this opportunity, Link snuck out into the middle of the camp, behind the moblins. He glanced over to the captured girl, who acknowledged his presence, looking at him with pleading and tear filled eyes. He raised a single finger to his lips, before withdrawing his sword as quietly as possible. He positioned himself behind of the moblins, who had now reached where Shade had been. Shade had by this point crawled away from the leaves, and was now also ready to attack, glancing at Link through the shadows. Link nodded, and quickly raised his sword, and thrust it through the first moblin's back with no effort whatsoever.

As the first moblin slumped to the ground, and Link withdrew his sword, his was astounded to see the stupidity of the other moblin. Despite there being a sickening sound as he had pulled his sword out of the first moblin, the other had not noticed anything, and was still scanning the tree-line.

Deciding that this moblin was not worth the time, Link simply punched the moblin hard at the base of its spine, instantly knocking it out. Shade trotted forwards towards Link as the second moblin dropped forwards with a satisfying 'thump' as he landed. Link briefly stroked his wolf, before returning to the task at hand. The two crept back to the tied up girl, careful not to wake the sleeping moblins on their way over.

Reaching the girl, Link and Shade set to work, Link cutting the ropes cleanly with a small knife, whilst Shade tore ropes messily, leaving many frayed ends. However, the result was the same, as the girl weakly got to her feet, before falling onto Link, mentally and physically drained from everything she had been through.

"Are you alright?" Link asked, concern evident in his voice. The girl tried to reply, but no response came from her throat, evidence of her exhaustion. She was barely managing to stay conscious, so Link hefted her up over his shoulder, and quickly made his way back out of the forest, Shade running behind.

Out of the forest, Link found Epona obediently waiting where he had left her before entering the forest. Epona had now fully matured, and was at the peak of her physical performance, her glossy chestnut fur evidence of this. Link lifted the slumped maid in his arms onto Epona's back, before mounting himself. He urged Epona forwards, knowing the tender state that the girl was in, and wanted to get back to Castletown as quickly as possible. Shade chased on at Epona's side, as they made quick progress back to the town.

Reaching the drawbridge, Link tried drawing the attention of the guards in control, but he got no response. He tried again and again, all to no avail. Feeling the maid start shivering and moan, he knew he had to act fast. "If I can't get into Castletown, I must be able to get into LonLon." He thought, before steering Epona round, and cantering off towards the ranch.

Epona approached the gates of LonLon ranch and stopped, as the gates were locked shut. Link cursed silently, knowing full well that he and Epona could not fit those thin bars. But someone smaller could…

He glanced down at Shade, who was looking all around him, taking in the atmosphere of the night. "Shade!" he thought. "Sneak through those bars, and get up to Malon's window! She'll get the gates open." He glanced up to the window in question, which had its curtains fully shut. Once again, Shade faithfully obliged, just squeezing under the bottom of the wrought iron gates, before reaching the ranch house.

Performing incredibly accurate jumps, Shade soon made his way up onto the roof of the ranch, and was poised outside Malon's window. He started pawing at the thin glass, his well-kept claws making enough sound to stir Malon. All Link saw was a dim light now coming from Malon's window, and the curtains creaking back. He heard a faint gasp from the room, as Malon now opened her window to eagerly stroke Shade's head.

Shade accepted this treatment, before making quiet barks, and jerking his head in Link's direction. Malon turned, and saw Link atop Epona, waving his arms. She quickly closed her window again, before disappearing.

A few minutes later, the door to the ranch house opened, and Malon came out, wrapped in a thin dressing gown. Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, she wandered up to the gates. "Link?" she yawned, "It is the middle of the night, what could you possibly want…" She trailed off as her gaze shifted to the maid, slumped in Link's arms.

"Mal, you have to let us in!" Link said urgently. "This maid is the one who went missing days ago, and I was sent to find her. I found her tied to a post in a moblin camp, and can't get back into to Castletown at the moment, as the guards can't be bothered to be awake."

Malon's eyes widened at the realisation, and started fumbling around in the pockets of the gown she was wearing. She cursed loudly, before sheepishly looking back up at Link. "I don't have my keys, I'll have to get dad up…" she quickly turned, before running back into the ranch. Shade had by now made his way down off the roof, and patiently waited on the other side of the gates to Link, gently panting, exposing his pink tongue.

Not too much later, Talon scurried out of the ranch house, keys dangling by his side. He rushed over to the gates, and quickly unlocked them. Once they had been prised open, he came up to Link, and carefully took a look at the maid that was slumped in Link's arms.

"We need to get her inside now" Talon said hurriedly. Link nodded in agreement, as Epona led them through the gates, and up to the door of the ranch, where Shade accompanied them alongside. Dismounting Epona carefully, Link carried the fainted girl over to the door, which was held open by a concerned Malon.

Once inside, Link found a nearby soft chair, and carefully the barely conscious girl, who was quickly given some water by Malon. The girl drank greedily, colour slowly returning to her pale cheeks.

"Are you hungry?" Malon asked, as Talon went into the small kitchen, getting out some cold meat and bread. A loud growl from her stomach was response enough, and Talon quickly brought it all over. She tore into the bread and meat, savouring every morsel. All the while, Link took Epona to the stable, so that she wouldn't have to stay outside all night in the cold air.

Making his way back inside, the events of the day started to overpower him, and he felt sleep start to infiltrate his mind and eyes. Covering his yawn up with his hand, he saw that the girl had now finished eating, and had properly fallen asleep, slumped back into the chair, looking content for the first time.

"Thank you for helping us." He said to the two ranchers, who were cleaning up in the kitchen. "I know it was the middle of the night…"

"Oh please!" Talon replied. "Someone's life is more important than sleep. And besides, who else would have helped, since the guards at the gates are always sleeping at night…"

"Are you going to be staying tomorrow, Mr 'Hero'?" Malon teased.

"I'd like to, but I think that we need to be off at sunrise, so that we can get her back to the castle sooner rather than later, so that she can recover fully there." Link replied, grimacing. "She has obviously been through something traumatic, probably was going to be used by the moblins in some kind of slavery."

"Well, good thing you two were there to find her." Talon responded, glancing over at the sleeping body, before his eyes were drawn to something behind Link. He smiled as he said, "I think Shade isn't really thinking about it though…"

Link looked over his shoulder and smirked as Shade was tucking into a large chunk of cuccoo, relishing in the flavour. He quickly rubbed his wolf's belly, before collapsing onto a small sofa beside where Shade was eating. He rubbed his eyes gently, but couldn't hold off the inevitable.

"Link, there is a spare bed upstairs…" Malon said, "You're welcome to use it."

"I should probably stay down here, in case she wakes up or something…" Link replied, drifting off.

* * *

><p>"Well, I'm back off to bed then…" she playfully grimaced, before walking and giving Shade a last pat and bit of affection. Talon soon followed suit, blowing out the nearby candles, but leaving the crackling fire alive, casting a shimmering light over the two sleeping forms. While walking up the ranch stairs, Talon took one last look down into the room, and smiled as he saw Shade make his way over to Link's feet and lie down, keeping the worn out soldier warm, as always.<p>

_A/N: So, no more age jumps for the foreseeable future (Maybe possibly at the very end, but that will be a long time in the works). Link and Shade are now fully grown, and boy, am I excited to exhibit some of their skill! But all in good time._

_I try to get two chapters out a week, but depending on how much work I have to do, and the amount of essays I get, that can fluctuate. But anyways, I thank you for reading. If you feel like it, write a review, tell me what you like, what you hate, anything! Even what you had for dinner. (If you really want to…)_

_See you next time._


	6. From fledgling to knight

At precisely 10 minutes before sunrise, Link's short but sweet sleep was interrupted by Shade placing his front paws on Link's chest, and gently licking his face. Groaning as his eyes opened, Link found Shade's eyes looking cheerily into his own.

"Sometimes you're such a dog…" he said quietly, shifting into a more upright position in the comfy sofa. Shade gave him an exasperated huff, before setting back down on the floor. He proceeded to go over to the maid, who was still fast asleep, having not stirred then entire night.

"Wait Shade…" Link said, steadily getting to his feet. "I'll get her up, she probably won't respond as well as I do to having her face licked."

Submitting, Shade drew back, and sat down. Stretching, Link went over to the girl, and shook her arm gently. Shifting body position, her eyes fluttered open. "Rise and shine." Link said cheerfully. "Best to get you back to Castletown sooner rather than later."

"What time is it?" she yawned, wincing as she tried sitting upright. "Ow, my back aches…"

"I haven't checked you for injuries," Link admitted, "But the castle staff will most likely check you over when I get you there. And to answer your first question, it's early." He stopped, realising he had not asked her for her name. "Just so I know, what's your name?"

The maid laughed. "I thought you would have asked yesterday. It's Claire."

Link nodded, committing the name to memory. He took a quick look around him, before realising that he should say thanks to Malon and Talon before he left, without waking them up. He saw a small pad of paper on a nearby table, with a pencil on top. Quickly, he scrawled a short note saying,

'Thanks for everything, I'll be sure to be back later during the week to say thanks personally.

Link.'

Leaving it in plain sight, Link extended his arm to the maid. "Need a hand?"

She gratefully took it, and together they slowly made their way out of the farmhouse, making sure to close the door. Leaving her and Shade by the small set of steps from the house, Link went and retrieved Epona from the stables. Bringing her out, he helped the maid onto Epona's back, before mounting Epona himself. Checking that Shade was ready to run alongside them, he cast one final look towards the ranch house, before setting off, Epona gently trotting at first, and then galloping across Hyrule field.

The first streams of daylight peeked over the edge of the horizon as they galloped over to Castletown, Shade in close pursuit, enjoying running in the cold morning air. Link was glad to see that the drawbridge into town had now been lowered, and there were two guards present. As they made their way closer, they realised who it was on horseback, due to the fact that Shade was alongside.

As soon as Epona was close enough to them, Link called out, "Who was on guard duty last night? They were hopeless, as I was trying to return this poor woman after being kidnapped!"

The two guards gasped and looked at each other sheepishly, before avoiding Link's gaze. "I… er…ummm…" one of them stammered. The braver one admitted, "It was us. Did it cause much trouble?"

Link simply rolled his eyes as Epona slowly walked them by, before leaving them behind as they entered the town. As it had just become light, hardly any people were on the streets, only stall owners, setting up their stands. When they saw Link, they nodded respectfully, despite not being a fully-fledged knight.

Leaving the early morning town, Epona continued to carry them, all the way up to hill leading to the castle. As Link started to make out the barbed gates in the distance, the made spoke up. "I never properly got a chance to say thank you for saving me from those horrible brutes."

Link chuckled lightly. "Don't worry about it…" he replied. "Shade and I don't get on too well with the moblins, as we have a long 'history', so just stopping them doing what they were trying to do was good in itself."

"I hope no one else gets kidnapped thought…" she responded.

"Forgive me for asking, but how were you kidnapped?" Link asked, as he started to slow Epona down, the gates coming into range.

"I live in Kakariko, and was given a day off by the Princess, which was awfully kind of her. I was walking back home, when these moblins just ambushed me, and knocked me out. I woke up some time later, tied to that post. They gave me a little water, but nothing else. I was giving up hope, but then you came and dealt with them."

"You should have told me you live in Kakariko, I could have taken us over there…" Link said, halting Epona and Shade as the guards shouted at him to stop.

"They'll give me proper care here…" the maid smiled, dismounting Epona. Link followed suit, and walked behind the maid as she talked to the guards. Realising who she was, the guards went crazy, praising the goddesses for her safe return. They started to take her through the gates, before remembering that Link was still there. They gestured to him, Shade and Epona. "Come on in, and bring your horse and… wolf?" They looked at each other, before shrugging. "No matter, I am sure the princess will want to thank the hero himself…" they smiled.

Having no adequate excuse, Link led Epona and Shade through the gates and followed the maid, Shade keeping close to Link's feet. Approaching the steps up to the castle doors, Link told Epona to wait, which she did happily. Petting her, and reassuring her that they would be back soon, he and Shade followed the maid up the steps, and into the castle.

Link was used to the sight of the exterior of the castle, but he was not prepared for the sheer size and splendour of its interior. Polished marble floors and plush carpets were rife, as well as sparking chandeliers, glittering in the early morning light. A small group of maids were all clustered in the corner of the entrance hall, talking amongst themselves. One of them noticed the maid walking through the door, and squealed, drawing the attention of all the others in the hall. The maid that Link had rescued ran towards them, as they all engaged in a large group hug, amidst tears of joy. Link scratched his neck awkwardly, as Shade tried to turn his head away from the high pitched noises going on. All the noises then stopped, as a new voice entered. "What's this going on then?"

Link turned, as everyone else did towards the source of this new voice. It seemed slightly familiar to Link, although he could not remember where he had heard it before. From one of the huge staircases in the hall, a slender figure made their way down hurriedly, dressed in a salmon pink dress, and long blonde flowing hair. Link mentally slapped his forehead at this point, how could have been anyone else? Princess Zelda.

Zelda didn't notice that Link and Shade were standing there, instead realising that the maid had returned. "Claire!" she shouted, before hurrying over to the maid. Claire tried to curtsy in time, but was swallowed up in a tight hug from Zelda, who starting fretting about her. Zelda called out to other servants nearby to get doctors there immediately, before asking Claire more questions. As medical staff rushed to them, Claire pointed over her shoulder at Link, which Zelda's gaze followed. She looked perplexed as she saw Link and Shade, as if she couldn't work something out, especially with Shade's presence. As the doctors took Claire away, Zelda walked over to Link and Shade, with Link bowing respectfully.

"Your majesty…" he said, returning upright. Zelda still looked at him confusedly. "I am so sorry, I think I remember you, but can't think of your name…" She placed her fingers on her temples, trying to spur her memory.

Link felt a little disheartened, but carried on. "No need to worry, your majesty. My name is Link, and this is my partner… ", he gestured to Shade, "the wolf Shade."

At this, Zelda's eyes shot open, her hands covering her gaping mouth. "Oh my goodness! Please forgive me, I should have realised! You two are the ones who saved my father and I several years ago from that moblin attack!"

"That's right, Princess." Link said, glad that she had finally recognised him. "The Hyrule Knights sent us out to find that maid Claire after she went missing. We found her in the woods last night, tied up by moblins. After 'dealing' with them, we tried to get her back then, but the guards on duty were not doing their work at that time, so we went to LonLon ranch where we know them well ,to make sure she rested."

"I apologise for the extra actions you two had to take." Zelda replied, looking down at Shade, who was returning the gaze. "I'll make sure that those responsible are dealt with accordingly." She knelt down, looking evenly at Shade. "Is it alright if I pet him? I tried to four years ago, remember? My father called me away though, so I lost my chance."

"Oh, I am sure he's fine with any petting." Link smiled, as Shade shifted forwards, sniffing Zelda's outstretched hand. He then lightly lowered his head into her fingers, which gently scratched the underside of his chin. Making low happy noises, he closed his eyes, enjoying the treatment.

Link too knelt down, gently rubbing his friends furry back. "He deserves a nice bit of meat when we get back to the knight's compound; it was a long day of searching in the forest yesterday."

Hearing a loud neighing from outside, Link had an educated guess that Epona was starting to get bored. Zelda giggled as he rolled his eyes. "Suppose that's a signal for us to take our leave, Princess."

"I suppose you're right." Zelda replied, as they both stood back up. "Well, I must thank you two again, not just for what you did yesterday and last night, but for everything that you have done for this kingdom, and everything that you will do."

"Just doing my duty, your majesty." He smiled, bowing. Shade too dipped his head in respect, before the two turned, and walked back out of the grand hall, leaving a Zelda with a few questions on her mind, none greater than the two Triforce marks that were visible on Link's hand and Shade's paw.

Riding back into town, Link had to shield his eyes from the morning sun. Seeing as there was room, Shade was on Epona's back as well, and the two made quite a sight as they made their way through the now bustling town. It was well known among the people in Castletown about Link and Shade, but people still stared in awe at the tame wolf riding behind Link. It was evident how relaxed Shade was about it, his long pink tongue hanging freely from his jaws, taking in the sights as they went.

Approaching the gates leading into the Hyrule Knight's compound, Link met the two knights standing guard outsight, who immediately started to ask him questions.

"Link, are you two alright? We had not heard anything about your safety…"

Link dismissed their questions. "I'll answer everything once I get inside." Accepting this as an answer, the knights let him through into the large training square at the heart of the compound. A small group of knights were already training in the weaponised area, being instructed by Captain Flank.

Epona whinnied loudly to draw attention to the fact that they had arrived, making all the knights and the captain look over towards them. Breaking out into a large smile, they watched as horse, wolf and Hylian made their way over.

"Ah, you've returned!" Flank said, as Link and Shade dismounted.

"We would have returned last night, but the guards on the bridge were 'busy'" Link replied, as Epona was taken by one of the younger knights away to the stables.

"I'll have a good shout at them later…" Flank growled.

"But we found the captured maid, tied up in a moblin camp." Link stated, reaching down to stroke Shade's head. "Together we took out two of the moblins, but left the other two who were asleep. Not being able to get back into the town, I had to get LonLon to allow her to sleep there, which did involve waking them up."

"Damn guards…" one of the knights spat, whilst the others nodded in agreement.

"We've just been up to the castle, dropping the poor girl off, where she is being treated now for any injuries, mainly shock."

"Did she say where she was kidnapped?" Flank replied, taking a more serious tone.

"Yes, she was walking home to Kakariko village after being given a day off, and the moblins just ambushed her."

Captain Flank sighed, twisting his sword point in the ground. "Sounds like more work for us. Those damn moblins are attacking anyone with weapons." He turned to some junior knights. "As soon as we have finished training today, you will start patrolling the way between Kakariko and Castletown. We cannot let any more people get attacked."

The two knights he had been talking to saluted in response, acknowledging the command. Captain Flank now turned back to Link, and smiled. "Meanwhile, I think there is something that needs to happen." Leading Link and Shade forwards, he took them into the main barrack building, and towards the armoury.

Link had only really been in the armoury a few times, and it still took his breath away when he saw the sheer expanse of swords, shields and helmets that were stored there. His attention was then drawn back to Captain Flank, who was standing next to a large stand of armour on a stand; Helmet, armour, gauntlets, shield and all. He gestured towards it.

"Fresh from the ironworks. This is yours. Congratulations, you are an official knight of Hyrule."

Link's heart rose several feet in his chest as he heard those words. He was barely able to keep his grin from spilling off his face, as Shade yapped happily by his feet.

"Oh, and don't think that I forgot about Shade!" Captain Flank laughed, gesturing to his left. What Link saw next blew his mind. Next to his own suit of armour, there was a smaller stand, with a smaller set of armour on it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Link gasped.

"Yes, Shade gets his own armour as well…" the captain said, as Shade slowly walked forwards, inspecting his protection. "Well then, let's get you suited up!".

A short while later, Link was fully clad in his new armour. It had been made especially for him, as it was slightly lighter than the armour the other knights wore, allowing him more mobility and speed. The shining silver coat reflected the dim light flickering from the many candles around them, and he revelled in the fact that he was at last one of the knights.

"Looking good Link!" Flank stated, admiring at his protégé. "But I think Shade needs to be suited up as well!"

Shade was happily running in-between Link's legs, looking adoringly up at him. Link crouched down, rubbing Shade's belly and face. "Time to get yours on!" he laughed. Shade held still whilst Link and Flank attached the armour around his body. A large metal plate covered the contours of his back comfortably, allowing free movement. The most interesting part was the hinged head protection, the went all the way down Shade's nose.

"Why is it hinged?" Link asked.

"So we reward him for doing a good job!" Flank laughed, demonstrating this feature. Setting it back down, Captain Flank took a few steps back, and breathed heavily. The two now looked ready for anything that nature could throw at them, and some more. Their armour complementing each other's, whilst not constraining them.

"I've just remembered, these are personal gifts from me." Flank said, turning around. He reached onto a small workbench, where a long double-edged sword was resting, on top of a large shield, bearing the coat of arms of the Hylian Knights. "Ever since I took you in, I was waiting for the moment to give these to you, and I am ever so happy that you have finally reached the correct point in time for this to happen." He handed them over to Link. "Your parents would be proud to see you like this."

Link took his old weapons off his back, and swapped with his mentor. The new sword and shield were definitely heavier than his previous sword and shield, but he would get used to that quickly. Slinging them onto his back, he stroked Shade's exposed under belly, and expressed his gratitude to his Captain. "Thank you, for taking care of us, for teaching us how to better judge what is good, for everything. "

Captain Flank clapped his fellow knight on the shoulder. "Come. You must be starving. I'll have the chefs prepare something hearty, for you and Shade." And so they went; Tutor, Knight and Wolf.

* * *

><p><em>AN: So, Link is finally a knight! What will he do now? Will the troubles from the moblins ever stop? And what of that dark lord from a while ago? What has he been doing? Find out, in the near future!_

_Thanks for reading this chapter of 'A hero and his wolf'. Please consider leaving a review if you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you next time!_


	7. A roaring time

The next few days were a blur for both Link and Shade; training to ride in proper formation with the other knights, and the various chivalric laws that they had to obey. It was exhausting work; with long tiring days leaving them utterly spent as they lay in the barracks. But, Link knew he would have been lying on his behalf and on Shade's if he said that it was not all worth it. Having finally become a proper knight, he knew he would work as hard as he could to live up to that title, and give back to the Captain, who had given himself and Shade their livelihood.

The operations of the Hyrule Knights were both localised and widespread, with many knights stationed throughout Castletown itself, on guard for any wrongdoing that happened amongst the citizens. This was technically the duty of the guards in Castletown, but the duty had been informally swapped, in exchange for a 24 hour guard presence on the town walls. Link had just found that to be not the case, and so tensions were slightly raised between the two groups for a couple of days.

If not patrolling the streets of Castletown, Knights were either in the barracks, training and resting, or out in Hyrule field, on watch for any sign of threat towards Hyrule. The guards took in turns to rotate between Castletown and Hyrule field, and today was one of the days where Link and Shade were overseeing the market in the town square. All knights were obligated to wear their helmets at all times in public, to protect them against people who might have a vengeance against them if they were caught in a misdemeanour. However, that rule really did not need to apply to Link, as he was instantly recognisable due to the huge black wolf that stayed faithfully and obediently at his side.

Today was no ordinary day though, as it was customary for the royal family to visit the market every so often, roughly once a week. The visited the market so that the public could raise any complaints or issues they had directly with an authority, and so that the royals and public could enjoy a closer relationship. Obviously, that meant there was a larger crowd than usual in the market, which in turn meant a higher likelihood for crime to occur. Keeping watch on a crowd as large as it was that day was near impossible for a single set of ears and eyes to keep control. Thankfully with Shade's enhanced hearing, Link could easily keep control of the people, and react quickly if need be.

A huge cheer went up from the multitude, signalling the arrival of the royals, spurring the duo into action. They started slowly walking around the crowd, looking for any suspicious behaviour. The sight of Shade (fully armoured up) and Link's sword was enough to stop most criminals in their tracks, although there were the more bold ones, and the ones that were just plain ignorant of their surroundings.

Shade's senses sparked into action, as he gently nudged Link's armour. Link looked down, before following where Shade was now pointing his nose. Link spotted what Shade had spotted, an anxious man, walking close to the line of citizens. The man was looking all around him carefully, before eyeing an exposed satchel that an oblivious woman was carrying. Taking action before he could take anything, Link thought to Shade, "Creep up to him. If he takes anything, let him have a full power roar!"

Shade seemed happy with this suggestion, tail slapping against Link's leg armour. He started creeping forwards, crouched low. His armour had been specially made to not make any rattling noise as he moved, even at a full run, so he was well suited for a sneak attack. Link walked quietly behind his wolf, never taking his gaze off the pickpocket.

The pickpocket had started reaching forwards into the woman's satchel, and halted, trying to not draw her attention as his hand closed around a small bag of money within it. Unbeknownst to him, Shade was now a few inches away from him, and was waiting for the right moment. Link saw the pickpocket start to bring his hand back, and thought, "NOW!"

Link had gotten used to Shade's powerful and deafening roars before, having been by his side in combat when Shade tore at moblins. However, for people not used to this sheer noise, it was almost comical for Link to watch.

Shade took a deep breath, and unleashed his full fury into a blazing roar, his dazzling blue eyes wide open, staring down the pickpocket. The pickpocket was completely bowled over, screaming in terror. The entire crowd had their attention drawn to this spectacle, including that of the princess, who had just been talking with the crowd.

The pickpocket landed hard on the ground in shock, the small bag of money spilling out of his hand, coins clattering on the cobbled floor. He tried to scrabble for the money and make a run for it, but his hand met Link's armoured boots, as he stepped in front of the pickpocket, staring down at him indignantly.

He cleared his throat, and said loudly, "I don't think that is yours…"

The failed pickpocket gulped, and reached out one last time for one of the coins. Link saw this, and beckoned Shade forward again, who was still advanced, growling and grizzling menacingly. The pickpocket quickly withdrew his hand, needing no further message.

"I want you gone in three seconds, otherwise I have every right to send my friend here snarling and biting at you." Link spat, hand on his sword. "1…"

The pickpocket leapt to his feet and charged off back into a small alley, disappearing from sight. Sighing, Link reached down and collected the coins back into their back. There was a small string around the neck of the bag, which he tightened, before offering it back to the woman from which it had been snatched. "I think that it is yours instead…"

The woman beamed gratefully, placing the bag carefully back in her bag. The entire crowd started applauding Shade and Link, whilst Link lifted Shade's head armour, praising him for a job well done. Shade's large tongue lazily flopped out his mouth, enjoying the petting. Replacing the armour, Link turned back to the woman. "In future, I ask you to not have your possessions in such a visible place. A wolf will not always be there to terrify any pickpockets."

The woman concurred with this, and thanked Link profusely, offering him a small amount of money from the nearly stolen bag. As with the knight's code, Link politely declined, stating that he could not take another's property. With this, he wished her a good day, before leading Shade onwards, away from the crowd.

Returning to their original position near the centre of the square, Link was surprised to see Princess Zelda walking up to him, accompanied by a few maids, including Claire. Immediately, he dropped to one knee holding his sword, as Shade quickly assumed the sitting position.

"Pretty impressive back there you two!" Zelda laughed, as Link rose back to his feet, sheathing his sword. "You certainly gave that man a run for his money."

"Thank you, your majesty. Just doing what the knights would have me do, and serving the interests of Hyrule." Link replied, as Shade too returned to his standing position.

"I had heard that you had been officially knighted, so I extend my sincere congratulations to you two." She smiled kindly at Link, before running her eyes over Shade's armoured body and face. "Was that armour all crafted especially for Shade?"

Shade barked enthusiastically, turning a few heads. "Yes, our ironworkers were kind enough to make us both armour so that we can defend ourselves, each other and everyone else." Link smiled, as Shade kept a wary eye out on the crowd, looking for more wrongdoers.

Zelda sighed wearily as some of her maids starting whispering quietly to her that they had to get a move on. "Getting visits from potential suitors is not what I need right now…" she groaned loudly. "I have to leave you both now unfortunately, sorry."

Link nodded his head courteously. "No need to apologise, Princess. You have much to attend to, and we should not have kept you waiting."

Zelda giggled, as did several maids at this remark. "Please, we are not near anyone else from my family. Please, after all you have done for me in the past, call me Zelda in private." She winked, before moving away. Link stood there for several moments, confused as to what she had just said, but Shade snapped him out of it with a quick bark. Jerking back to attention, Link put his helmet on, and the two finished their rounds of the market.

Several hours later, Link and Shade returned to the barracks, feet aching from constantly walking. They met a smiling Captain Flank as they walked through the gates.

"Not bad for a day's work, eh Link?" he asked, squatting down to help remove Shade's armour.

"And what do you mean by that?" Link replied, removing his helmet and wiping his brow.

"Word travels fast around the market. You two stopped a pickpocket in spectacular fashion a few hours ago, all while the princess was touring the market. And then some saw her come up to you afterwards. What did she say?"

"Umm, mainly she just congratulated us on becoming knights and stopping the pickpocket, before having to leave to meet suitors."

"Ah." Flank replied. "It must be terrible, unable to choose who you marry and have it forced upon you."

"Well, ideally we all get a choice, don't we?" Link responded, as Flank finally unclipped Shade's armour, allowing Shade to shake his fur free. They continued talking as Link walked inside and took off the remainder of his armour. "I suppose that there have to be downsides to everything, including being royal. Consider my position, I have a great friend and ally in Shade, but that came at the cost of my parents."

Flank sighed. "Don't get philosophical with me now. Anyways, you did a great job this morning, so you can do what you want for the rest of the day. Might I consider checking out LonLon, to get any reports?"

"Yeah, sure." Link replied. "Shade would love the ranch, wouldn't you?" he said, rubbing his friends belly vigorously, which Shade yelped in delight at.

Flank laughed, before reaching into his pocket. "I forgot to give this to you when you became a proper knight." He pulled out a small pin badge, with the crest of the Hylian Knights on it. "Pin this to clothes you wear, so that you can still be recognised for what you are even when you are not in your armour."

"Thank you." Link replied, shaking Flank's hand as he took the badge. Flank left the two of them alone at that point, leaving Link to get changed, and retrieve Epona.

Not much later, Epona's heavy hooves clattered through the gates of LonLon ranch, neighing at the excitement of being back where she was raised. Having spent the last few days stuck in the barracks and in Castletown, Link had missed the smell of the countryside and of the ranch. He met Talon sitting contentedly in a chair by the ranch house, taking things easily.

"Howdy Link!" he waved, as Link dismounted. "How have you been? Haven't seen you in a couple of days!"

"Hey Talon!" Link replied. "We got properly knighted a couple of days ago, so we've been busy with all the 'necessary' training."

"Well I never. They finally made you one of their own!" Talon laughed, showing his large teeth. "Congratulations son. Malon will be delighted; she's just over in the corral."

"Thanks Talon, but I'll talk to her in just a minute. I've got the regular 'knight' business to talk about. Any news on moblins that our knights may have missed?"

Talon scratched his chin, thinking. "Not that I can think of. Ever since a new patrol was set up between Kakariko and Castletown a few days ago, there have been no sightings that we've heard of."

"Ah, that was my suggestion, after hearing how the maid I rescued was captured." Link admitted.

"Well, you seem to have more sense than anyone else. That route handles hundreds of people each day and there were no guards protecting it. I'm amazed something didn't happen earlier."

"Alright, thanks for the information Talon" Link said, giving his friend a big thumbs up. He urged Epona onwards, and moved towards the corral.

Getting closer, all of their ears picked up at a very recognisable sound, Malon singing the same song as always to the horses. However, Shade seemed to react differently than usual, listening intently. He then surprised Link and Epona by then howling the notes of the song, creating a haunting and mesmerizing duet. Malon stopped singing, confused by the second part and turned around. Realising who it was, her confused expression broke into a huge smile as Epona trotted forwards, allowing Link and Shade to dismount.

"I wondered when you were going to show up." She playfully huffed, arms crossed. "You turn up in the middle of the night, and then leave at the crack of dawn. Where have you been?"

"Umm, kind of busy…" Link replied, gesturing towards the crest on his shoulder. Malon looked closely at it, before a huge smile erupted onto her face. "You're finally a…"

"Yup." He replied, Shade's happy bark reflecting his own mood. Neither of them were expecting Malon to dive into his arms, screaming happily. "I'm so happy for you! You did so much for them for so long, and you're now one!"

Link could do little else but roll his eyes, and return the hug around her. Shade impatiently rubbed his head against her exposed legs, forcing her to release her grip on Link (which he had been enjoying) and start cuddling and pampering Shade.

"Thief." Link growled mentally, to which Shade looked smarmily back at Link, tongue hanging out happily, and tail wagging furiously.

"So, what are you planning on doing now?" Malon asked, whilst stroking Shade.

"Well, following orders. I heard the Princess mention something about suitors, so we will have to be on guard to protect them as they arrive…"

"Wait, did you say the princess?" Malon asked curiously, staring at Link.

"Uh yeah… interesting story…" Link replied, scratching his neck.

"Wow, poor guy." Malon sighed, humour evident in her voice. "If you haven't experienced it, a wolfs roar right in your ears must be absolutely terrifying if you have never heard it before."

"To be fully honest, I was trying to keep a straight face as the guy collapsed his face priceless." Link laughed, stroking Shade's head. "To be fair, all of the knights are used to Shade's noise, when some of them tried to give him a bath whilst I was asleep. Let's just say he's only comfortable with me washing him, as he almost roared the building down, waking me up."

"Oh dear!" Malon laughed, imagining the pure terror of the knights. She then noticed the distinct lack of sun in the sky. "Do you have to get back to Castletown?" she asked. No response was needed, as the sound of Link's palm slapping his forehead rang throughout the corral.

"I should get going." He groaned, standing up. He called over to Epona, who trotted happily over. Link hefted Shade onto Epona's back whilst Malon gave him a goodbye pet, before turning back to Malon.

"I might be back in the next few days, depending on how busy I am going to be. But, it was so nice to be over here today."

"Aw, thanks Link!" she smiled, before pulling him into a tight hug. Link sighed, before pulling them apart, and mounting Epona. "See you soon!" he shouted, as Epona darted off, past the ranch house, and back to Castletown in record time.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, another chapter complete. I apologise for the amount of explanation there was at the beginning of this chapter, but I felt that some explanation of the roles of the Hyrule Knights was needed. I'll try not to repeat this in the future._

_Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter. Next time, suitors start arriving, and Link has to protect them. But do they show up? Find out!_

_If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, it tells me what went well and what to avoid for next time. Anyways, I'll see you next time._


	8. Missing?

CLANG!

Groaning, Link's eyes wearily opened. "Surely it can't be that time already?" he thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

It was early in the morning, and the wake up bell for the knights had just gone off. It was rung at exactly 6.30 every morning so that the knights had time to wake up, perform their ablutions and get down to the dining hall.

Link moved forwards into a sitting position and reached up with one hand to draw back the curtains that covered the window above his bed. Most knights in the barracks shared in rooms of two, but as Link and Shade sort of counted as two separate people, they got a room to themselves.

The early morning light peeked through the now exposed window, revealing the thick layer of cloud overhead. "Great…" Link thought. Now half-awake, he tried to get out of his bed, but met firm resistance in the form of a still sleeping Shade.

Shade was curled up in a large ball, pressing down on Link's legs, stopping him from leaving the bed. "Come on, get up!" Link said quietly, gently stroking Shade's side. Shade gave off a disgruntled squeal as Link's hand made contact, awakening him from his deep sleep. He moved his head up and stared at Link unhappily, eyelids barely open.

"Come on…" Link sighed, forcing his legs up and out from under Shade's body. Finally free from Shade's weight, he forced himself up onto his feet, and to the small wash basin that stood in the corner of his room, next to his armour stand. Splashing water over his face and body, he glanced back towards his bed, and laughed as he saw Shade fully stretched out on the bed, trying to get back to sleep.

"Really?" he said loudly, flicking water over in Shade's direction, some splashing down on his furry head. This finally convinced Shade that it was useless to continue, and he finally made his way down onto the floor. He yawned loudly whilst stretching, as Link put a thin pair of clothes on, and then his armour on top. He kept his helmet off, carrying it and Shade's armour under one arm. With his free hand, he pried his door open, as he and Shade made their way down to the dining hall.

It was always one of the highlights of Link's day to see the state of the other knights at the breakfast table. He thought that Shade had been poor at getting up, but that was nothing compared to the others. Sitting down at a table with a steaming plate of meat and bread, and Shade wolfing down a similar meal at the side of the table, Link chuckled as the majority of the other knights trudged into the hall in a sleepless daze, heads almost slamming down on the tables as they sat down.

"Glad to see some are awake!" came a familiar voice to his side. Link turned his head as Captain Flank sat down next to him, his armour clanking with his movement.

"Some are more awake than others…" Link pointed out, nodding over in the direction of one poor knight who had fallen asleep again, head flat against the table. "Should Shade do the honours?"

"Why not?" Flank laughed, before adding "Just don't let him do it too loudly, it's still early."

Link smirked, before thinking to Shade, "You know what to do. Not too loudly though…"

Shade finished his last mouthful, licking his lips to get all the flavour off, before lifting his head up and moving over to the knight. His 'friends' cleared a wide space next to him, as Shade leapt up onto the bench. All of the knights and servers in the room covered their ears, whilst Shade put his muzzle right up to the knight's ear, and barking loudly.

The knight jerked up, yelling as all the others burst out into laughter. Shade looked very happy with himself, mouth open and tail wagging, as the knight managed to get back into reality, and covered his face in embarrassment. Shade jumped down as the knights went back to their normal places, consoling their now fully awake and alert comrade, who glared at Shade.

"He shouldn't drink so much in the evenings…" Flank said, as Link patted and stroked Shade on his return to the table."

"Oh he should!" Link replied, making Flank cock his head in confusion. "So we get our dose of morning entertainment."

Captain Flank chuckled at this, taking a bite of his bread. Setting it down, he stood up to address all of the knights. "Morning all! I take it we are now all awake…" he glanced at the knight Shade had woken up. "Today we are all going to have to be on high alert, as the suitors for her majesty Princess Zelda are arriving."

A collective groan came from all of the knights, save for Link and Shade. "Burgh, foreign princes. They're so… cocky and arrogant." One knight said.

"Patience, you hopefully won't have to deal with them yourselves." The captain replied. "All we have to do is ensure they get to the castle in good time. When they are there, the castle has to deal with them from then on. Your set duties do not change, so don't worry. Go out and do our duty!"

Sitting back down, he turned to Link and Shade. "You two have got field duty today, in case moblins or something else tries to attack the suitors arriving. You two should definitely scare them off."

"Scare who off?" Link smiled, stroking Shade's head. Flank rolled his eyes. "Hilarious."

Not too much later, Link and Shade were both fully armoured up, and Link was busy saddling Epona up in the stables. Epona's horse armour was still being made in the barrack's forge, but it didn't matter in the slightest. With a fully armoured Link and Shade on her back, she looked just as terrifying as the horses with armour on.

Hoisting Shade onto Epona's back, Link lifted himself onto her back, before urging Epona forwards and out into the crisp morning air. Captain Flank was at the gates to the knight's compound, giving instructions to some underlings. Seeing Link about to head off, he gave a friendly salute, which Link responded to in similar fashion, as well as putting his helmet on. Epona neighed happily, glad to be out of the stables, before they went out of the gates and into the quiet streets.

It was still early, so they met nobody on their way to the town drawbridge. However, as soon as Epona set foot on the drawbridge, Link and Shade both caught sight of a fully black steed approaching in the distance. "One of the suitors probably" Link thought. As the horse came closer, Link saw that the rider too was dressed in an all-black suit of armour, with bright red hair and darker skin. "A gerudo? They come from the desert…" He looked in the background behind the rider, and saw the forest looming. "Why would a gerudo be coming from the forest?"

Link continued Epona on at a steady pace, but heard Shade quietly grizzling as the rider came closer. "What's got into you?" he said, reaching back and stroking his stomach comfortingly. Shade acknowledged this and stopped making noises, but still glowered at the rider for unknown reasons.

As the rider came closer, Link saw a small scrap of something fall from the rider, who glanced carelessly behind him before ignoring it and continuing to ride onwards. He had now come into voice range of Link and Epona and called out in a deep, loud voice "You there! I take it the Princess is waiting for me?"

"Straight to the point I see…" Link thought, before speaking up. "If you are one of her suitors, then yes. You are a bit earlier than all the others…"

"I wouldn't bother if I were them. I'm clearly the best choice!" the rider snorted. "My name is Lord Ganondorf. You'd do well to remember that." Ganondorf spurred his steed onwards and over the drawbridge, leaving a stupefied Link, and an again grizzling Shade. "Well he's nice." He said out loud, before directing Epona over to the scrap that Ganondorf had dropped.

Dismounting, he picked the scrap up, and found that it was part of parchment, with a partially written paragraph on it in barely legible script. It read, "...As per your order, the suitors will be…

Link read it over and over several times, before glancing back in the direction that Ganondorf had disappeared. "Well what's this then?"

Several hours passed, with Link still pondering that question in his head. They had performed several patrols around Hyrule field, but had not seen any other suitors, strangely. Right at that moment, Link had guided Epona over to a stream, where she and Shade were now drinking heavily. Link had a few practice shots with his bow, aiming at a tree stump, making sure that he was still on top of his archery. He had also fed Epona a couple of carrots as well as given Shade a few slices of meat, before he heard hooves approaching behind him. He looked over his shoulder, to find two Hyrulian knights approaching.

"Hey there Link!" one of them greeted as they both dismounted. "Any sign of the suitors?"

"Yes, I met one this morning, a Lord Ganondorf." Link replied. "He is 'very' nice…" he continued sarcastically.

"Ah, I've heard stories about him." The other knight replied. "Supposedly, he has forged some sort of 'deal' with the moblins, although I question the intentions behind the deal."

"Hmm." Link brought out the scrap of parchment he had found. "What do you make of this?"

He handed it over to one of the knights, who looked closely at the writing. "Doesn't look like Hylian handwriting, and it does smell a bit… odd."

At this point, Shade had snapped his head up, and had walked over the three knights, barking quietly at the parchment.

"What is it, Shade?" Link asked, trying to follow Shade's gaze. Shade was glaring at the parchment, and bobbing his head up and down. Carefully, Link took the parchment from the other knight's hands, and lowered it down to Shade's sensitive nose.

Shade took a deep sniff of the parchment, before snarling, and trotting away from the group. His nose was pointed towards the woods, and he was barking angrily.

"He must have got a scent!" Link shouted, quickly putting his gear away, and mounting Epona. The other knights followed suit, mounting their own horses, and the three knights followed Shade, who steered them in the direction the scent took him.

As the three galloped across Hyrule field, Link had to halt Shade with a loud whistle, as they had spotted another Hylian knight, but this knight was clutching his arm, barely staying in the saddle. As he approached, they saw that there was an arrow sticking out of his armour, piercing through his arm.

"Are you alright?" one of the knights that had been with Link asked, as the other moved his horse closer to the injured knight.

"Saw… one of the suitors… attacked…" the knight gasped, wincing in pain. "Near the woods… moblins…" With that, he almost fell off his horse, but the knight closest to him caught him, and gently eased him back into the saddle.

Link turned to said knight. "We need to get him back to barracks, and get as many knights as possible. If what he said is true, then the other suitors may have met similar fates, and we need to rescue them." Addressing both of them, he said "Look. Get him back to the barracks, and alert Captain Flank, asking him to mobilize the spare knights. I'll stay here with Shade, and we can then all track down these moblins, and rescue the suitors."

The knights all nodded. "We'll be back shortly, en masse!" Carefully, they led the injured knight away, leaving Link and Shade on their own. Link gave Shade another scent of the parchment, to refocus on the track.

Not much later, Link was treated to the glorious sound of the Hylian knights thundering out of Castletown, their armour glinting in the midday sun. There were about 20 knights in that group, all eager and ready for battle. Captain Flank was riding at the head of the charge, distinguished by the stripe of blue on both sides of his helmet. They slowed as the approached Link, and Flank took off his helmet. "Well, what have we here?"

Link handed him the parchment, and the Captain took in a deep breath. "This is definitely moblin writing, I've seen this kind of script before. Where did you find it?" he added, handing the scrap back to Link.

"The only suitor that I know has turned up, Lord Ganondorf dropped it when I met him earlier." Link revealed."

"Suspicious, no?" Flank said. "the only suitor who turns up happens to have carried a scrap of parchment concerning the other suitors…"

"That's what I thought." Link replied. "Shade caught the scent from the parchment, and we seem to be heading towards the woods. I propose that we follow him until we get to the woods, and then dismount for a stealthier assault, provided we find the suitors or moblins."

The captain paused for a minute, mulling everything over. "Anyone oppose to this plan?" he asked loudly. The knights all shook their heads, the metal helmets grinding on their chest plates. "Well, let's get on with it then!" he shouted. "Let's get these sons of bitches!"

The knights all followed Shade, who was tracking as he ran. As predicted, he led the knights to the edge of the forest, where the thick vegetation forced them to dismount. Tying their horses up, they advanced on foot into the deep woods, Shade leading them diligently. Link kept refreshing Shade's scent of the parchment, which helped Shade enormously.

The knights were all making their way through a clearing, when Shade halted, and let out a very quiet bark, dropping to the ground. Link and Captain Flank all gestured for the others to do the same, and there was quiet clinking as the knights scrabbled for cover. Poking his head up slightly, Link saw what Shade had seen, an armed moblin, carrying more parchment.

Glancing back to the captain, Link asked "Permission to take him out?"

"Granted." Flank replied. With this permission, Link quietly readied his bow and an arrow. He got to his knees, and aimed at the lone moblin. However, he dropped back down again, as another moblin joined his comrade, and the two started grunting to each other.

Knowing that one death would set the other running to alert other moblins, Link thought to Shade, "Get close to the one on the left. I'll give the signal, and then we'll both attack!"

Shade wagged his tail is response, before creeping like a Shadow through the foliage, towards the unsuspecting moblins. Link could see when Shade was close enough, as Shade's black head poked out like a sore thumb amidst the brown and green leaves, but the moblins seemed to miss all traces. Readying his bow, his pulled the arrow back, and thought "NOW!" releasing his arrow.

In a much practiced move between the two of them, Shade leapt at one of the moblins, snarling and closing his powerful jaws around its unprotected neck. Link's arrow whistled through the air, and buried itself through the other moblin's chest, instantly killing it. Shade's razor sharp teeth made easy work of the moblin, tearing it like a ragdoll, and also killing it in a heartbeat. Dragging the bodies over into nearby foliage, Link gestured for the knights to move forwards, which they did silently. Link pulled the parchment from the dead moblin's hands, and together he and Captain Flank glanced over it.

"It's a map, suggesting a nearby camp, and… 'prison'?" Captain Flank questioned. Looking closely, they managed to work out where they were in relation to everything on the map.

"Looks like we need to go over there to get to the prison." Link said, pointing a gauntleted finger.

"I concur" Flank replied. "Let's hope we find the poor sods there."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, the suitors, save for one are missing! And the one who has turned up seems to be a 'nice' person indeed…_

_Thanks for reading this chapter of "A hero and his wolf"! Next chapter will continue where I left off, and the fates of the suitors will be determined. I hope to upload the next chapter in the next few days, but until then, adieu!_


	9. A good job?

The knight's continued their shadowy sneak through the deep woods, lead diligently by Link and Shade. Following the map that they had acquisitioned off of the dead moblins, they made swift progress rather than following Shade's nose, which he now could sense anything new with. All the while, guays perched on thin branches ahead, and eyed the knights warily, unsettling those below.

Not too much later, Link signalled for all the knights to halt, and get down low. Captain Flank ensured that they had all done it, and crept forwards, levelling off with Link and Shade.

"What is it?" he asked, seeing no obvious reason as to why they had stopped. Link gave no response, except for one finger on his lips, whilst his other hand pointed steadily through the foliage. Following Link's finger, Flank saw what both Link and Shade had seen simultaneously, and gawped at the sight.

A huge group of moblins were standing but a few metres away from them, numbering at least 100. They were all lightly armed, and were glaring over at a makeshift wooden prison that looked poorly built. Inside were at least 20 men, all of different races, with their stewards and unarmed guards at their sides.

"The suitors!" Flank whispered, before turning over his shoulder and mouthing the same words to the knights behind him. He turned back to Link, who was holding a hand in front of Shade, who looked raring to pounce. "Well, we found them."

"What do you suggest we do?" Link asked in a low voice, barely audible. "They haven't noticed us, and even though we are outnumbered, if we take them by surprise, we should be able to deal with all of them easily".

No sooner had he finished, he lowered his head, as he saw a moblin glance casually over in their direction. Waiting a couple of seconds, he turned back to Flank, who was still thinking. Finally, he replied, "We should probably distract them first and then attack. But how?"

The knights all thought about this for a short while, before remembering Shade. "If Shade can sneak round to the opposite side and distract some of them, we can then attack while they chase after him."

"Well, how will he let us know when to attack?" Flank asked.

"Oh, we'll know. There will be moblins howling in pain." Link replied, a slight smile on the corner of his lips. "I'll go with him part of the way, and go past the 'prison', and while I'm at it, I'll quietly tell the suitors to not panic."

"Seems like a plan." Flank nodded. "Let's get on with it."

Silently, Shade and Link sidled away from the knights, and closer to the prison. The moblins had still not noticed the presence of the knights, given the fact that they were too busy looking dumbly at the suitors, and taunting them. It didn't help that one of the suitors was being very loud and aggressive.

"How dare you do this to me! I am a prince; I do not deserve this kind of treatment!"

Most of the other suitors agreed with this sentiment, shouting their disapproval of the situation. The moblins just stared blankly back at them, unsure what they were meant to be doing to them.

Link looked amongst the suitors as he and Shade crept closer, and noticed the glum and bored expressions of the personal guards of the suitors. All of them were standing like the suitors, with the exception of one suitor, who was facing perpendicular to the other knights and sitting down, not wasting his energy. Looking closer, Link noticed that this suitor was much younger than all of the others, and couldn't have been that much older than Link himself. Said suitor caught a glimpse of Link and Shade, and his eyes widened slightly, but gave nothing away.

Link pressed a finger to his lips, which the suitor acknowledged, pretending not to see them anymore, staring off into the distance. At this point, Link whispered to Shade, "You know what to do. Terrify them, and draw them in. We are all right behind you."

Shade no reassurance, but still enjoyed the encouraging pat he received from Link. He moved away from Link and crept into a pile of leaves that was closer to the moblins. He stayed there, waiting for the opportune moment.

That moment came not a minute later, when the wailings of the suitors drew the moblins close to the prison frame, and brandish clubs and maces menacingly in their faces. Link drew his sword and shield quietly, as Shade burst out from the pile of leaves. All of the suitors noticed this darting shape, and gasped as Shade bounded up to one of the moblins with its back turned, and bit viciously into its leg.

Squealing in pain, the moblin and its allies turned around as Shade tore himself free. The moblin's blood dripped freely from a large open wound, staining the brown earth a dark red. Howling in anger, the moblins charged at Shade, who backed up. At this moment, Link stood up and charged from where he had been waiting, at the same time as Captain Flank and the other knights advanced from behind Shade.

The moblins went very quickly from angry to panicked, as 20 Hyrulian knights appeared out of nowhere, and started slicing into them. Despite having the pure advantage in terms of numbers, they were poorly armed and lightly armoured, so the knight's weapons easily cut through the disorganised rabble of bodies. Link himself was slicing and dicing easily, moving his sword through multiple moblins in several second, and dodging weak attempts of counterattack from the moblins.

Shade meanwhile was having a field day. Not going in for full body attacks on the moblins, he was darting from moblin to moblin, taking deep bites as he went, leaving at least 20 moblins heavily injured on the ground, which knights soon went in hurriedly to finish off.

It was all over in a flash of swords, in the squeals of moblins and the grunts of hard working knights. Only a single moblin stood, who had wisely stood out of the melee. Several knights had started towards the survivor, stepping over its fallen comrades, their blood staining their metal armour. Link saw what they were planning to do, and made his way forward, sheathing his sword, keeping his shield up.

"Stop. That one didn't attack any one of us, so we have no reason to kill it!" he shouted.

"Yes, but they all helped kidnap these suitors, who are terrified. We need to be sure he doesn't do it again!" one knight shouted, reaching forwards to the moblin with his sword. Said moblin screeched, and dropped all its weapons. It also dropped a single key, before cowering at the corner of the prison.

"Well, he's surrendered." Captain Flank said. "Our code says we cannot kill those who have honourably surrendered. Let it go."

The knight who had been advancing on the moblin halted, and sighed. Link whistled to Shade, and thought to him, "Just bark. Scare him off."

Shade got right to it, running and barking at the moblin, jaws still dripping with blood. The moblin needed no second warning, and took off, arms flailing as it fled.

Shade picked up the key that the moblin had dropped in his jaws, and returned to Link, tail wagging. Link took the key gratefully, before handing it in turn over to Captain Flank. "Highest ranking officer gets the credit…" he said, a small smile eroding at his lips. Flank sighed, taking the key. "If any credit is to be gotten." He turned to the prison door, and walked over to it and a crowd of relieved suitors.

Unlocking the small lock on the makeshift door, the suitors all filed out, and were inspected by the knights and their own entourages for injuries. Link noticed that the suitor who had spotted himself and Shade earlier was standing by himself. Walking up to him, he asked, "Your majesty, you have no guards, no people looking after you?"

The suitor looked up, surprised. "Unfortunately not. I am the youngest of several royal brothers, and for some reason, my father decided to send me out on my own to Hyrule, which seems like a big mistake right now. They took everything I had, even my horse…"

Link groaned internally at this misfortune. "I can only apologise, your majesty. We should have had more patrols out this morning…"

"There wasn't anything anyone could have done." The suitor replied. "I have been here since last night, but I wasn't the first they captured." He paused, breathing deeply. "Where are my manners? My name is Prince Reynolds, from the small kingdom of Nayra."

"Pleased to meet you, your majesty." Link replied, bowing respectfully. "My name is Link and this…"he paused, as Shade walked up to his side, rubbing affectionately against his leg."… this is Shade, my lupine ally."

Prince Reynolds looked curiously at Shade, who stared back at him with his large amber eyes. "Amazing. I didn't think that wolves could be tamed."

Link laughed. "I wouldn't say that I have ever 'tamed' Shade, rather spending over 14 years together has numbed some of his natural tendencies, as well as gaining some more pleasant features." He lifted Shade's head armour, scratching behind his large pointed ears.

"Well, from where I was looking, there was nothing but pure ferocity in his actions." Reynolds commented. "How do you communicate with him so well? It's almost unnatural."

Link smiled partly. "Let's just say, we have a special bond between us."

Prince Reynolds looked confused with this response, but wasn't able to respond, as Captain Flank walked over to them, saluting to the prince. "Link, I've just sent a couple of our knights to scout for the suitors horses, as some of them had heard some panicked neighing nearby."

"That will be a relief for everyone." Link replied, before glancing down at Shade's stained mouth. "Messy pup…" he growled playfully, before pulling a handkerchief out of his armour's sleeve. Giving Shade no time to react, he covered his muzzle with the cloth, and started wiping vigorously to get the bloodstains out of his fur. Shade reacted accordingly to Link's action, trying to escape the wiping and cleaning in a playful manner.

Whilst this was going on, Prince Reynolds moved over to Captain Flank. "Do you know how those two met?"

"Under sad circumstances I'm afraid." Flank replied glumly. "When he was four years old, the village that he lived in was besieged by moblins, who killed all his family. He managed to escape into the woods for the night, where he met a terrified wolf pup in a similar situation, whose mother was also killed by the moblins." He took a deep breath, watching the two friends continue to play with each other, before continuing.

"Huddled together over the night in fear for their lives, they obviously formed a bond. The next morning, the knights found the pair collapsed back in the remains of their village. We took them back to Castletown to decide what to do with them, as they made it clear that neither would leave the other. It looked bleak, until I stepped in, vowing to raise them well and give them a life that that would have made Link's parents proud." He turned and faced Reynolds. "Do you think I've done a good job, your majesty?"

Reynolds looked at the two companions, Link playfully rubbing Shade's exposed belly, pinning Shade down. Shade's mouth was freshly cleaned, and was hanging open, tongue fully exposed. Turning back to Captain Flank, prince Reynolds replied, "You've certainly raised them well, in all aspects."

Not too much later, knights that had been sent off returned, bringing all of the horses that the moblins had taken from the suitors. All of the knights who had been sent were leading multiple horses each, with several leads in their hands. The suitors all went over to their respective horses, their guards standing nearby.

"Your majesties!" Flank shouted. "If you are all ready, we shall now get out of this dingy forest. We will make way for our own horses, and then we will get you to the castle."

One of the suitors scoffed. "And just how do you plan on getting back to your horses? These words are like a maze!"

Link spoke up, Shade at his side. "If you will pardon my interruption, my companion here can get lead us out of here", he said, gesturing to Shade. The same suitor looked arrogantly at them, but did not reply. With that sorted, everyone followed behind Link and Shade, Shade following his nose back to the horses. Their progress was slowed by the need for the suitors' horses to avoid tree roots and stumps, but in not much time, they all emerged at the edge of the woods, directly in front of their horses.

Epona neighed happily as Link and the other knights returned, and he gave her a comforting pat on the nose, before untying her. All of the knights did likewise, and soon, a large array of horses made its way back to Castletown, their progress not halted or slowed. The formation of the knights surrounded the suitors, so that nothing could happen to them again.

The sun was in its twilight stage as the large group made its way up to the drawbridge of the town, where they had to slim down their ranks to single-file to enter the town. The sight of that many horsemen attracted a fair amount of attention from the passers-by, who marvelled at the eloquence of the suitors, not knowing where they had been earlier on in the day.

At this point, Captain Flank ordered half of the knights to return to the barracks, whilst the others including himself were to remain with the suitors. As said half peeled off, the captain moved his horse over to Link and Shade, and whispered, "I wonder what the one suitor who arrived will say…"

"Judging from what he seems like, he won't be that happy." Link replied, turning his head as he heard Shade grizzling again. "What's got into you then?"

"He's probably just tired." Flank suggested.

"I doubt that." Link replied, stroking his friend's head gently. "Let's think about it later."

The suitors and the remaining knights eventually made their way up to the castle gates, where the guards reacted in hysterics. Panicking at the sheer number of people that had arrived at once, the castle staff emerged in full force, taking the suitors horses and leading them away. Link watched as he saw Prince Reynolds shepherded into the castle, bemused by the whole experience. However, looking closer at the door, Link saw someone he didn't particularly want to see, Lord Ganondorf.

Ganondorf was leaning against the heavy doors of the castle, much to the displeasure of several servants near him. He eyed the suitors angrily as the neared. "You took your sweet time getting here! What does that say about your kingdoms then?"

Link shook his head in disgust. He had heard that some dignitaries were rude, but Ganondorf seemed to be a cut above anyone else he had ever met. Looking back up, he managed a small smile as he saw Prince Reynolds offer a kind smile in his direction, as well as mouthing "Thank you!"

With the castle doors slammed behind the suitors, Link and the other knights turned around, starting to head back down the hill.

"Good job today, you two!" Flank said brightly. "We managed to find the suitors thanks to you two, and your planning in battle earlier was exceptional."

"Hmmm…" Link replied, not really paying attention.

"Something wrong?" Flank asked.

"Yeah, I just feel… uneasy around that one suitor, Lord Ganondorf. It just feels like something inside me is reacting to his presence."

Flank looked at Shade, who had started grizzling at the mention of the name. "Seems like you aren't the only one. He's a dignitary Link; some of them are just that way. They are sometimes rude, obnoxious and insufferable."

"I suppose so, but Prince Reynolds seemed fairly, 'normal'." Link replied.

"He's a nice lad, very modest and down-to-earth." Flank concurred, as they entered into the Knights barracks. Dismounting their horses, they led them into the stables, settling them down for the evening. Having done this, the rumbling stomachs of many knights were heard. Captain Flank laughed, "I think it is dinner! Good work everyone!"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, the suitors have been found and rescued. Ganondorf is being a massive jerk, whilst Link and Shade have done more excellent work, but have their doubts about Ganondorf? What will happen next? Find out soon!_

_Thanks for reading this chapter of 'A hero and his wolf'. If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, to let me know what you enjoyed, or what you want me to improve on in the future. _

_See you next time!_


	10. Such plotting Many wow

Midnight in Hyrule Castle. Usually, a time of sleep, quietness and contemplation for its inhabitants, workers and guests. All of the suitors who had arrived had been feasted well, and started to get acquainted with Zelda as a person. They were now all sleeping soundly, stomachs full. Well, nearly all of them were sleeping…

Ganondorf was sulking on his luxurious bed in the castle room, his darker skinned head cradled in his hands in anger. "Grrr!" he moaned loudly. "How did those feckless excuses for knights manage to find those other suitors? They were well hidden deep within those woods…"

He sat up, punching one fist viciously into his palm. "I'm not even here for her precisely, moreso for what she has got…"

He glanced down at the back of his balled up hands, the Triforce of Power visibly glowing on the right. "Why must you tease me? I'm so close to another piece…" He shouted loudly in anger, massaging his temples. "I only have to Triforce of Courage left to find after this, I can't waste a moment. But where is the holder?"

It was always on his mind where the Holder of the Triforce of Courage was. He remembered the meeting he had with King Moblin all those years ago, whilst he had been bleeding into his own carpet. The holder of courage had been spotted! His heart had leapt. But since then? Nothing. No talk of any holder of the Triforce, no utterance of his name.

Ganondorf's self-pity was interrupted by a timid knock on his door. Ganondorf retrieved his usual demeanour, and answered grumpily, "What do you want?"

Slowly, a servant opened the door to Ganondorf's room. "Is everything alright, my Lord? I heard shouting coming from within your room, and we thought there could be an intruder…"

"The only intruder is you! Get out!" Ganondorf shouted. The servant paled, and quickly closed the door, terrified of Ganondorf's loud booming voice. This left Ganondorf alone again, to figure out what he was going to do, and when. Slowly but surely, a plan started to formulate in his head.

"If the Princess, the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom were to be 'kidnapped', then Farore would be forced to send the holder of Courage after her to rescue her. Chances are, they will be unprepared physically and mentally, so they should be no problem for me to 'deal with'…" he thought, his forehead creasing as he plotted.

Knowing what he now had to do, he didn't bother taking his armour off as he lay back fully onto the bed, waiting for sleep to take him. "You'd best be prepared Hyrule. I will take you into a new age, and no-one will get in my way. No one."

Link sighed as the heavy blade opposite him met his own with a deafening clash of metal. His opponent was tiring, and each consecutive blow got weaker and weaker, until he was barely able to move his blade up into the air. Link raised his own sword to parry yet again, but his opponent's sword simply clattered to the ground, with its owner ripping his helmet off and gasping for breath, his bright red face flushed with sweat.

"Oh come on Hedgers! (Link's training opponent)" Captain Flank yelled from outside the training arena. "He's hardly doing anything, but you tire already?"

Hedgers glanced over at the Captain, still taking huge breaths, his body shaking from exertion. "He... He's too good at parrying!" he gasped, slowly bending down to feebly lift his sword off the ground.

"That's the whole point of swordplay!" Flank shouted dejectedly. "Finding your enemies weakness and exploiting it. That involves parrying, and you'd better get used to it!"

Hedgers glanced back to Link, who had now also taken of his knight's helmet. He on the other hand had not perspired, and calmly sheathed his sword. He extended his arm forwards for a handshake after the spar, which Hedgers gratefully accepted, thankful that the humiliation was over.

Captain Flank looked around the other knights, who were eagerly watching Link. "Anyone want to fight Link next?"

Said knights quickly backed away from the arena, looking as if they were doing something else completely. Flank laughed at this, and shouted "Cowards!" He turned back towards Link, who still stood in the ring. "Come on, you can get out of there now!" he shouted, a large smile still on his face.

Link ambled out of the arena, gently swinging his arms as he went. "How can you not be tired?" Flank asked incredulously. "You've just fought half of the knights here, and you aren't even sweating."

Link shrugged. "This is training, so I know nothing seriously bad can happen. On the battlefield, you don't know what is going to come at you next, so I probably will be sweating when we are actually in action."

"If we get into action." Flank corrected. "The only problems we are likely to have are with moblins. There is no threat of war with any of our neighbours, so get used to training with us lot."

"I thought I had…" Link smirked, earning him a semi-offended snicker from the knights. Link was going to comment further, but his attention was drawn by loud snarling noises coming from nearby. "Shade?" he asked.

"Ah, I think one of the others found a large piece of cloth while they were patrolling earlier, and Shade is now 'playing' with it…" Flank grinned, as the snarling noise came closer, along with grunts of tired knights.

Through one of the closed doors at the far end of the room, Shade emerged backwards, his jaws firmly attached to one end of a piece of cloth. He was pulling back vigorously, whilst two young knights were being dragged through the door, pulling back with all of their might to comic effect. Shade paid them no attention, snarling and tearing into the cloth, whilst heaving the knights back, who were now just being towed.

All of the other knights started cheering as they came closer, enjoying the awed and terrified expressions on the two knight's faces. Shade kept pulling back, until he met Link's side, at which he gave the cloth a final rip for good measure, before dropping it.

Link grinned up at the two younger knights, who were not much older than he was, and staggering back to their feet. "I think he took you for walkies!"

"More like a drag…" one of them chuckled. "He went straight through that cloth; it was in one piece a few minutes ago…" They all looked down at the cloth by Shade's paws, ridden with teeth marks and drool from his excitement.

Shade was shifting from foot to foot, still bounding with energy and the thrill from the tug-of-war. "Should I take him out on patrol then?" Link asked, "So he can burn his limitless energy off?"

"Please do!" one of the younger knights shouted, causing much laughter from the others.

"I don't see why not." Flank replied, scratching his thin beard. "I'd suggest going on horseback, even if just going through town, as Epona's horse armour has finally arrived. It should be waiting in the stables." The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and he continued speaking, in a lower voice. "Plus, I believe a certain redhead is due to deliver milk to the castle soon, who might be susceptible to a certain young man in armour…"

The knights started roaring with laughter, as Link tried to keep a straight face, but a slight red tinge rose to his cheeks. "Whatever…" he said quietly, before scuttling off to the stables, Shade happily in pursuit, tail wagging.

A few minutes later, Link had strapped Shade's armour on, as well as armouring Epona up fully, headpiece and all. It was more for show, but he still wanted to prepared for anything, as well as looking exemplary for all others in town. Seeing as they were only patrolling through town, Link decided to let Shade walk on the ground, sticking close by to Epona.

Trotting out of the barracks, Epona neighed uncomfortably, not used to the extra weight and restricted movement of her armour. Link gently patted her back comfortingly. "Easy girl, you'll get used to it."

As they slowly moved through town, the midday sun shone warmly down on them, reflecting the mood of the citizens of Castletown. They all smiled and waved as Link and Shade passed by, and Link returned the gestures in the form of polite nods, whilst Shade kept silent.

After circling around the market square for a short while, Link and Shade's ears perked up as they heard a loud clattering coming from the town drawbridge. Glancing behind him, Link smiled behind his helmet as he saw the unmistakable milk wagon from LonLon ranch, with Malon and Talon both perched atop.

They had not spotted Shade yet, so Link thought quickly to Shade, "Hide in Epona's shadow, we'll surprise her."

Shade obeyed, and slunk into Epona's large shadow, as the LonLon ranch wagon sidled up to Link.

"Morning sir!" Malon called out, nodding her head in respect, not expecting an answer. She glanced at Epona briefly, but didn't recognise her due to the large amount of plate armour.

"Nice to see you too Mal…" Link said, taking off his helmet, smirking at both Talon and Malon's surprise.

"Woah, hi… Link." Malon said quietly, blushing.

"Hey there Link!" Talon said, grinning. "Looking mighty fine, might I say." He looked all around Link, searching for Shade. "Where's your wolf? Shade?"

"Right here!" Link replied, whistling clearly. At this signal, Shade trotted out from Epona's shadow, much to Malon's delight.

"I didn't recognize you with all that armour on, or without Shade!" she exclaimed. She turned, taking a closer look at Epona. "Is that Epona?"

"Yep!" Link cheerfully responded, patting Epona's flank. "The forge finally completed her armour, so she looks ready for action now, don't you?"

Epona neighed happily in response, at which Malon giggled. "I never imagined that she would look so… so intimidating! She looks ready to smash her hoof into someone's face!"

"You've raised her well Link!" Talon smiled, admiring Epona's full stature.

"No, it's all thanks to you for giving her such a loving start in life!" Link replied, moving Epona sideways to Shake Talon's big hand. "Anyways, do you have a delivery to make?"

Talon's eyes shot to attention. "Darn it! We need to get a move on!"

"I can come along with you now, my presence will help keep the streets clear as you go to the castle…" Link said.

"Sure, whatever you say Link." Malon replied, as they all set off.

The suitors were all follow Princess Zelda, as she took them on a long slow walk around the castle grounds. Ganondorf was at the very back of the group, patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to abduct the Princess, so he could remove her Triforce. He had gone out earlier, and tied his jet black horse up near the castle gates, to the confusion of the guards that stood nearby.

As the group slowly made its way around the Castle walls, they arrived at the main doors of the Castle, near to the gates leading down into Castletown. All of the suitors suddenly stopped, as did Zelda.

"Father!" she called out. Ganondorf looked up, and saw the king of Hyrule standing on the steps of the castle, waving out to them.

"Ah, Zelda!" he replied, taking her hands as she came up to him. "How are you finding the suitors? Any favourites?"

"Umm, I'm keeping my options open for the moment, as some are a bit more obnoxious than others…" she said, glancing quickly in Ganondorf's direction. The other suitors snickered at this, boiling Ganondorf's blood. He clenched his right hand tightly, the Triforce of Power dimly illuminating his hand, thankfully hid by the sunlight. As a result of his power, the rope tying his horse up to the gates came undone, and the horse came bounding over in his direction, under his full control. He glared upwards at everyone, who were now all staring at him. He leered.

Now was the time to strike.

Epona kept up a steady pace as Link and Shade accompanied Talon and Malon up the hill to the castle. They mainly talked about how the ranch was faring, and any recent moblin sightings. Link couldn't help but notice that Malon kept glancing over at him, and quickly turning away when he met her gaze, suggesting something. He decided not to bring it up until Talon was busy.

As they approached the gates leading to the Castle, the two guards on duty nodded respectfully to Link and Shade, before asking Talon about what business he had at the castle with the milk float. Despite the answer being obvious, Talon replied calmly.

Link had zoned out of what was happening nearby, as had Shade. They were both focused on what was happening near the steps leading up to the castle. They had spotted the King standing with Princess Zelda in front of all the suitors, all looking at one person. Ganondorf.

"Is everything alright Link?"

The question snapped Link back to the moment. He quickly turned his head around, seeing that Malon had asked the question, looking curiously at him. "What were you looking at?"

"Er…"

Link's next words never came, as an enormous bang filled the air, audible from miles away. Epona reared slightly at the noise, as did the two mules pulling the wagon. The light around them was also filled with streams of black and dark purple, an truly insidious sight.

"What was that?" Talon shouted looking all around their area. Link's head snapped back to the Castle steps, as Shade started barking violently, his fur sticking up on end, eyes narrowed.

Link's eyes then focused, as the darkness cleared from around the castle steps. Ganondorf was still standing, but all of the suitors had collapsed to the ground, along with the King. Zelda had been caught partially by the blast, but had been partly protected by the King who had tried to jump in front of her as the blast happened.

Ganondorf cackled, whistling to his horse to come nearer. He sauntered over to Zelda, who was coughing and spluttering on the ground. "You're mine now, Princess." He quickly bent down, and forcibly thrust her over his shoulder, and ran over to his horse.

The guards that had been standing next to the gates charged forwards, swords drawn. "Stop at once! You are under arrest Lord Ganondorf!"

Ganondorf snorted as he now mounted his horse, Zelda still coughing violently behind him. "Hah, just try and stop me fools!" He clenched his hand again, and sent a smaller wave of dark magic towards the guards, sending them sprawling away with another small explosion.

Happy that he thought he was free to run, Ganondorf looked up, and snarled as he saw Link atop Epona alongside Shade, standing in the gateway itself.

"Link?" Malon cried out. "What are you doing?"

"GET BACK!" Link shouted, drawing his sword with a dramatic flurry. "Ganondorf, I thought you might be one to try something! Turns out I was right!"

"Hah, you're that 'knight' from yesterday, aren't you?" Ganondorf sneered, drawing closer, whilst holding an arm around Zelda, who had now partially recovered. "You have that wolf you managed to tame with you. Just try and stop me with my power!" He clenched his hand once more, and sent another blast of magic in Link's direction.

Ganondorf was not expecting what happened next. He had imagined Link to be sent flying away, allowing himself to escape. But, Link simply swiped his sword at the magic, which deflected off the metal, and far away into the sky.

"WHAT THE…" Ganondorf shouted in rage, before panicking. "You'll have to catch me!" He set off at a gallop, Prince Zelda screaming in terror behind him. He charged past Link and Shade, leaving a trail of dust behind him. Link and Shade both snarled in anger, and Shade leapt up onto Epona's back, as Link prepared Epona to give chase.

"Link, what do we do?" Malon shouted in terror.

"Get some of the staff from inside the castle!" Link shouted as Epona bolted off in hot pursuit. "We'll deal with Ganondorf!" With that, he whipped his head around, and urged Epona faster, spurring her energetically. "Let's see what you're made of Ganondorf" he thought angrily.

* * *

><p><em>AN: DRAMA! IT'S ALL KICKING OFF NOW. The final showdown? Nope. No way. Not even close, so don't worry about it. _

_Review with what you think will happen next, I'm interested to see where you think that I will take this story. Who knows, you could be right, or partially inspire me…_

_Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter! See you next time!_


	11. Crime doesn't pay

Zelda struggled in vain as Ganondorf kept her pinned in place behind him on his horse. His powerful armoured arms kept her as still as possible, while his steed thundered down the road leading up to the castle, nearing the outskirts of the town. People that were walking along the road whipped their heads around as Ganondorf's black horse charged past them, gasping at the sight of Princess Zelda struggling and screaming.

"Let me go Ganondorf!" she yelled, doing everything in her power to break free from his hold.

"That's Lord Ganondorf to you!" Ganondorf sneered, not bothering to turn around and look at her. "I have quite the plan in store for you, so sit still back there!"

Zelda stopped struggling, glaring at her captor. "Do you honestly think that people let you just get away with what you've done?"

"I don't expect that anyone will be able to avenge the… injustice." Ganondorf leered, urging his horse faster as they started entering the built up area of Castletown. People had heard the explosions from castle, and were streaming out of their homes to see what had happened, only jump out of the way of Ganondorf's horse, who was snorting loudly as it galloped.

"Somebody, alert the guards! Don't let him take me!" Zelda shouted, as the people all gasped in terror. Ganondorf tried to laugh at this, but grunted in anger as he heard more hooves behind his horse. He glanced around, and snarled furiously as he saw Link, Shade and Epona advancing fast.

"So, the knight is in pursuit…" he growled, urging his horse forwards.

Link was glad that he had his helmet on. Firstly, the dust that Ganondorf's own horse was billowing up was hitting him straight in the face, and would have hurt bare skin. Secondly, he didn't want anyone to see the contorted face of anger he was currently supporting, a rage that both he and Shade shared. Shade had his ears pointed fully forwards, his jaws partially open, and breathing a bloodcurdling growl, that was steadily getting louder and louder.

Ganondorf did have a head start, but that didn't stop Epona from giving full chase, and soon they were hot on Ganondorf's hooves, within hearing distance of Zelda's cries.

"Link, do something quickly!" she called out, before being silenced by one of Ganondorf's big hands around her mouth.

"QUIET WENCH!" he roared, turning his head around and snarling at Link. "What hope do you have of stopping me? We're almost at the gates!"

Link said nothing in return to Ganondorf, only urging Epona faster. "Not much more girl…" he said quietly. Epona whinnied loudly, and spurred onwards, reaching the back end of Ganondorf's horse. All the while, Link thought to Shade, "Start creeping forwards around me. Get in front of me, and then lunge at Ganondorf when I say. He can't get far on the ground."

Shade gave no response, apart from moving forwards slowly, which Ganondorf didn't notice. He was concentrating on the rapidly approaching gates of Castletown, leading out into Hyrule field.

The market had been fairly normal that morning, but all of the peddlers and merchants stopped everything when they heard the clattering hooves rushing through the centre of the market square. All eyes were peeled on the two horses as the chased alongside each other, Ganondorf trying to veer his away from Epona.

Link caught a sight of armour flashing in the corner of his eye. Without turning his head, he saw that Captain Flank and some other knights were rushing out into the square, having heard the explosions and commotion. They were hurrying in front of the gate leading to Hyrule field, preventing anyone from leaving or entering the town.

Ganondorf spotted this emergence, and swore violently, bringing his left hand up and clenching it in anger. "SHIT, where did these bastards come from?" he howled, violently stopping his horse and turning it around to try another route to escape. It was at this point that Link shouted, "NOW!" and Shade leapt forwards off from in front of Link, to the surprise and awe of all those around them, including Ganondorf.

"WHAT THE…" he spluttered loudly, trying to retain composure. This did not last long, as his eyes widened in terror and realisation as Shade's open jaws snapped down on his extended arm.

Ganondorf was wearing his usual armour which could withstand almost any severe punishment, which he had used for many, many years. However, compared to the power of Shade's jaws, it was about as useful as soft butter. Shade's huge jaws made clean work of his armoured gauntlets, and sank into the gerudo's flesh on his forearm, making him yell and cuss in sheer agony.

The effect of Shade's weight pulling down on his exposed arm unbalanced, and toppled him out of his saddle. He crashed to the ground, landing painfully on his side, whilst Shade did not let go of his forearm, the blood quickly spilling out of his armour and covering the cobbled ground near them.

Ganondorf's horse reacted to the loss of its rider, and reared up in panic. Zelda, unbalanced by the loss of Ganondorf's arm restraining her screamed as she felt herself topple backwards, and off the horse. She would have collided with the floor similarly to Ganondorf had Link not been there.

Whilst Shade had been tearing into Ganondorf's arm and pulling him out of his saddle, Link too had jumped off Epona and hurried over on foot to Ganondorf's steed. He knew that Shade would be able to keep Ganondorf busy for a short while, so he was concerned with Zelda's safety. He saw Ganondorf's horse rear up, and Zelda's shaky position, so he instinctively hurried over behind the startled horse, and gracefully caught Zelda as she fell.

"Link?" she gasped as she felt him lower her back onto her two feet."

"Stay with Epona, your majesty." He snarled, gently pushing her behind him in the direction of Epona. He turned his head towards Ganondorf, who was trying to pry Shade's jaws off of his arm, to little effect. "We'll deal with this traitor."

"Careful Link…" she breathed quietly. "You've seen what he is capable of."

"I know all too well." Link agreed, before clomping over to the struggling Ganondorf.

"URGH, let me go you foul dog!" Ganondorf cried, in anger, fear and pain. Shade had been grizzling and clenching his jaw tightly as he shook his body, creating deeper and more painful wounds in Ganondorf's forearm. He stopped as he heard this insult, and turned fully towards Ganondorf, his amber eyes flashing dangerously redder as he suddenly released Ganondorf's limb, letting it smash down to the ground. The surrounding crowd cowered at the sight, metal strew all around Shade, blood glazing his teeth.

Ganondorf whimpered for the first time in his life, as he tried to lift up his ruined arm to cradle it, but couldn't. "You, you monster!" he shouted. "With all of my power I swear…" he surprised everyone by jumping to his feet, all pain forgotten, his eyes bright red. "I swear you'll die for that!"

He roared furiously, bringing his non-injured right hand up, the Triforce of Power clearly visible on his hand. He clenched it tightly, letting out a bestial howl as dark energy starting spewing forth, surrounding his hand. The crowd all screamed in terror at this sight and started to back away. Ganondorf finished building up his anger, and laughed as he saw that Shade was still standing in the same place, glaring and barking at him indignantly as if saying, "Come on then!"

"Run Shade!" some of the knight shouted, mainly Captain Flank.

"Hah, farewell you flea-ridden scum!" Ganondorf shouted gleefully, opening his palm and releasing the pent up energy directly at Shade's awaiting body.

There was an enormous explosion, even louder than back up at the castle. Ganondorf was blown backwards, back onto the ground, where he winced and whimpered in pain. Straining to lift his head up, he saw a sight that truly terrified him. "Wha… what?!"

Link had still been moving over to Ganondorf when he had leapt back to his feet, and started charging up magic at Shade, who was not moving. Fearing for Shade, Link began charging forwards, but despaired, thinking that he wouldn't be able to close the distance in enough time. Miraculously, he had felt energy start to surge through him, and feel a tingling on the back of his let hand. Somehow, he was able to move faster than he thought possible, and within a heartbeat, he was standing in between Shade and Ganondorf as the magic was released. Feeling nothing but a duty to protect his ally, he raised his left hand high, the Triforce of courage shining brightly.

Too fast for any eye to detect, a huge green wall of light spilt from both Link and Shade, emitted from their Triforce marks. The wall completely covered the pair of them, and deflected the energy that Ganondorf sent their way, sending it back into Ganondorf himself. The wall shielded the two of them from the explosion as well, as they stood defiantly in place, Link still with his hand clenched in the air near his chest.

From his position down on the ground, Ganondorf only saw the Triforce mark on Link's hand, completely missing the same shine from Shade's paw. His eyes widened with realisation. "No… wonder…" He tried to ease his weight back onto his legs, but Shade stopped him. Charging forwards again, incensed by the attempted murder, Shade leapt and pounced onto Ganondorf's chest. Shade's large mass forced Ganondorf back onto his back, still not noticing Shade's paw. Shade unleashed another deafening roar, his teeth fully exposed to Ganondorf's face.

Link strode up to Ganondorf, pointing his sword at Ganondorf's neck. "Give up. It's over." He calmly stated, trying to hide his hatred. He saw Ganondorf's eyes travel to the back of his hand, before slumping back in defeat. Link noticed that the faint shine that had been coming from Ganondorf's own hand had now disappeared, and there was no trace of the marking.

"This isn't over, boy…" Ganondorf sneered, but was soon silenced by Shade, snarling aggressively in his face. His stiffened up, and small whimpers of pain from his arm were audible. Link still had his sword pointed at Ganondorf's neck, and was relieved to see Hyrulian knights approaching out of the corner of his eye. Three experienced knights marched forwards, one carrying thick rope. The other two sidled up to Link and Shade, and got behind Ganondorf. The violently thrust him to his knees, keeping his head facing down towards the ground.

The knight carrying rope tied Ganondorf's powerful arms together, noticing how the rope was quickly stained red by the large gouge marks. Link cleared his throat loudly, beckoning Princess Zelda forwards, guarded by Captain Flank, who had scuttled over to her and Epona whilst Link was dealing with Ganondorf.

"Ganondorf!" She spoke loudly, disgust evident in her voice. "You are under arrest for high treason on several counts, for the most cowardly and heinous attempt at a grab for power. A jury will decide your fate." She turned, as she heard hurried footsteps from behind the knights.

Several royal guards were making their way forwards, and swarmed Zelda quickly, checking that she was alright. She silenced them with a wave of her hand, before pointing at Ganondorf, who had his head tilted in defeat. "Take him the high security prison. He is to be tried as soon as possible!"

The guards were quick to set about their work, with the help of several knights. At least ten knights surrounded Ganondorf, once Shade had relented and returned to Link's side. They manhandled him away to the sound of a thunderous applause from the crowd, who were all cheering Link and Shade's names, as it was obvious who the two were beneath their armour. Link paid them no attention, he rather focused on Ganondorf as he was unceremoniously dragged away.

"This is not over, Link!" Ganondorf shouted, having learnt Link's name from the crowd cheering. "I know who you are, and I will be back. For you, and this pathetic kingdom!" His voice was drowned out as the collaboration of guards and Hyrulian Knights dragged him down a far street, and out of sight.

Link then remembered that Ganondorf's horse would still be around, and craned his neck for any sight of it. He was stupefied to find that he could see no trace of the horse, almost as if it had vanished into cold air. He gave it no further thought, before turning to Princess Zelda and Captain Flank, who looked at him with awe and pride respectfully. "I rust you are not harmed, your majesty?"

Zelda laughed, whilst Flank just looked at Link with joy on his face. "I am absolutely fine, thank you Link. And Shade!" she said, looking lovingly down at Shade, who barked happily at the recognition. Captain Flank realised that Ganondorf's blood was dripping down Shade's face, and quickly wiped it off with his own cloth. Resisting playfully, Shade looked much more appealing after being cleaned, and walked up to Zelda, before rubbing his furry head against her covered knees, which she giggled at.

"I think he's just checking that it is the case!" Link smiled, as Zelda gently reached down to stroke him vigorously.

Link turned his head as he heard a whinnying noise from nearby, accompanied by hooves clomping. He sighed jokingly as Epona made her way forwards, nosing into Link's armoured chest. "Atta girl Epona." He breathed, stroking her face and ears attentively. "You gave Ganondorf a good run for his money back there, even when he had the headstart!"

"Link, I can't say thank you enough here, but you have my gratitude for eternity." Zelda smiled.

"Just doing as I have been instructed, as well as defending the innocent." Link replied, nodding at Captain Flank. "If you want to thank me, you have to thank my Captain as well, for teaching me."

"Link, the glory goes to you two today." Flank replied. "You singlehandedly stopped a nefarious crook from abducting our Princess. I cannot take any credit for that."

The two men were suddenly stunned when Zelda gasped, her hands raising to her mouth. "The suitors! My father! They are still unconscious at the castle!"

"We'll go back with you." Link said definitively. "Do we need any other knights to come and help out?"

"No, there will be enough staff at the castle to cope," Zelda said. "But you definitively need to come with me. There is much to discuss."

"As you wish, your Majesty." Link replied, as Shade barked his approval. Captain Flank bowed respectfully to Zelda, before leaning into Link's ear. "We'll talk about this later." He made his way off, leaving Link and Zelda alone with the crowd.

"Well, I suggest you ride on Epona whilst we walk alongside you." Link suggested.

"Why?" Zelda asked.

"Erm, the public can see us." Link reminded her. "Even though you were just nearly kidnapped, you still need to appear strong and in command."

Zelda realised what he was saying and mounted Epona, with Link supporting her. The crowd cheered again as she was seating upon Epona, prompting her to give a quick speech.

"Citizens of Hyrule, I thank you for your concern for my safety today. Let it be known that the miscreant will be duly punished, and my saviours…" she pointed out, gesturing to both Link and Shade, "will be rewarded accordingly."

The crowd burst into even louder applause and tribulations, making Link lead Epona on quickly, to make a quick exit.

"Not one for publicity I see." Zelda teased.

"It's not for all of us!" Link replied cheekily.

Making their way back up the hill to the Castle, Link and Shade kept an attentive eye out for any possible danger that make itself visible. As they reached the gates to the castle, Link was relieved to see that Malon and Talon were both still there, not looking in direction.

"Why don't you dismount here, Zelda?" he said. "You go deal with the suitors now, and then invite me into the Castle when you are ready to 'discuss'."

"You're coming in with me." Zelda replied curtly. "But if you want to talk to your 'girlfriend'…"

"She's not my girlfriend…" Link interrupted, , surprising Zelda. "We're just good friends."

"Hmm, we'll see about that." Zelda smiled, before dismounting and walking over to the guards by the gates, who were eager to see her back safely. She turned around, before saying, "Link, when you are done, just walk into the castle hall, I'll instruct people to tell you where to meet me."

"A pleasure, your majesty." Link replied, bowing respectfully. Shade did a similar thing, dipping his head slightly. Zelda was then whisked away by the guards, leaving Link and Shade alone.

Breathing deeply, he took of his helmet, and made his way over to the LonLon ranch wagon, where Malon and Talon were both sitting, staring into the distance.

"Er-hem!" Link said loudly, causing them both to snap their heads around to him.

"Link!" Malon shouted, leaping off the wagon and crashing into Link. "Are you three alright?"

Link gently lowered Malon down, before greeting Talon as well. "We managed to stop Ganondorf, the one who captured the Princess."

"What happened to him?" Talon asked, as Malon clung tightly to Link, staring adoringly up at him.

"Well, let's just say he is on his way to a prison, with terrible gouge marks on his forearm from Shade…" Link smiled, reaching down with one hand to pat his friend warmly. "Ganondorf was scared beyond belief at Shade, and with good reason!"

"You three showed him, huh?" Talon laughed. "It must have been a frantic chase, Epona was going like the clappers down that hill."

"She did her job well." Link sighed, stroking his horse lovingly.

They stood in silence for a while, before Talon yawned. "We'd best get back to the ranch before sundown. What are you doing now Link?"

"The princess needs to discuss some things concerning the recent events with me soon…" Link replied. "So I'm not done yet."

"Come by soon…" Malon said sleepily. "Mr Hero…"

"Really? That nickname again?" Link replied jokingly. He was not expecting what happened next, as Malon suddenly reached up to his head and planting her lips on his briefly.

Stunned, he mumbled,"Erm… okay…"

Talon started laughing uncontrollably. "Well, take the hint lad! It's about time!"

Malon giggled, before breaking away and getting back onto the wagon. Talon was still chuckling as he started the horses driving the wagon, and his cackling was still audible half-way down the hill.

Link just stood there, stunned by what had just happened. He was relieved that Malon had finally kissed him, but in that way?

Shade was getting bored, and bumped into Link's leg, bringing him back to attention. "Sorry buddy." He laughed, before turning around to the castle gates. "Well, let's go. Surely this day can't get any more eventful…"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, well, well. A lot happened there, didn't it? Ganondorf got messed up, realised who Link really was, and is on his way to jail. Zelda is now dealing with the suitors and the king, whilst Link is recovering from Malon's sudden affection. Oh dear, how will he cope? _

_Next chapter will cover the 'discussion' between Link and Zelda, so brace yourselves!_

_Anyways, thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, and I'll see you next time._


	12. Can I sit here?

Leading Epona carefully by the reins, Link approached the gates to the castle, Shade attentively at his side. The Princess had long gone into the castle, but had had left the guards at the gates to the castle clear instructions about Link.

"You may enter, and approach the castle", one guard said respectfully. Link nodded in response, and continued walking. Just as he was passing in between the two guards, the other called out to him. "Oh, the Princess did tell us that your horse had put in a supreme effort in her rescue, so your horse is entitled to use the royal stables while you talk with her majesty."

"That's very generous!" Link mused, as he and Shade crossed the boundary into the castle grounds. On cue, a stable boy made his way over to the trio, and introduced himself. Knowing what was coming, Epona was slightly hesitant to leave Link's side for the company of a stranger, but Link soothed her gently. "Easy girl, I won't be that long'. She snorted indignantly, but argued no further.

Link's gaze turned back to the stable boy, who had only just noticed Shade, and was paling at the sight of the huge armoured wolf.

"Don't worry, he won't bite…" Link joked, ruffling the armour on Shade's back. Shade playfully grizzled, only discomforting the stable boy further.

"How can you be sure?" he asked, shifting his feet nervously, whilst taking hold of Epona by the reins.

"Trust. I've built it up over the years by spending time with them." Link said no more, as the stable boy took his leave, leading Epona steadily into the stables for a royal treatment, subtly flicking her tail as she clopped over.

Breathing deeply, Link took time to notice the fresh breeze that was flowing across his face, something he didn't usually get to enjoy whilst wearing a helmet all day. He glanced down at Shade, who appeared to be having the same enjoyment, his large eyes closed, focusing entirely on the sensation of the breeze.

"Come on, let's go." Link said energetically, gently nudging Shade forwards. With a low huff from Shade, the two made their way up the grand marble steps, leading into the Castle entrance hall.

Meanwhile, at the very outskirts of Castletown, the complete opposite side to the Castle, Ganondorf was being dragged forcefully along a dark prison corridor by two burly guards, who taunted and teased him as they went.

"Oh dearie me. What have you gone and gotten yourself into, Ganondorf?" one of them jeered, whilst the other turned around to spit in his face.

"What a pathetic excuse for a man. Trying to kidnap a member of the royal family? That's treason if I've ever seen it. You've really gone and stuck your head in it!"

Ganondorf gave no response, trying to control his anger until he was alone. He felt so humiliated, the Triforce of Power giving up on him, and now subject to the whim of these two idiots. He felt sweet relief as the guards stopped dragging him, and halted outside an open cell, that had no natural light and a single faint candle nailed to the stone cold wall. An uncomfortable bed was the only other furnishing in this small hellhole. His home for now.

'You'll find your 'punishment out tomorrow. Until then, you can starve." One guard shouted angrily, kicking Ganondorf into the cell with the flat of his heavy boots. Ganondorf collapsed onto the mucky floor, groaning in pain. He faintly heard the cell door slam closed behind him, and the keys jangling in the lock, imprisoning him.

Ganondorf picked himself up off the floor once he had heard the footsteps of the guards disappear into the distance. Miserably, he made his way over to the bed, his anger increasing as he heard the individual springs decompressing and poke through to the surface of the mattress.

"Why am I so angry?" he seethed, clutching his head in his one good hand, wincing in pain as he did so. "I have every reason to be ecstatic. I know where all three pieces of the Triforce are, as that knight with the wolf revealed it to me. I doubt he even knows what to do with it and how to wield it."

He growled as he felt his bandaged right arm start to itch. The guards had sloppily put a makeshift bandage made out of old cloth on his arm, which did little to stop the bleeding. "I've gotta hand it to the kid, that wolf sure is dangerous. I'll have to watch out for him in particular."

Ganondorf lay fully back on the bed, ignoring the pain from the springs and his arm. He felt the cogs whirring in his brain as he plotted. "All I need is my strength back, that should give me back power." Despite everything, Ganondorf started to cackle, a demonic booming laughter that resonated throughout the prison block. "I'm biding my time, hero. Are you preparing!?"

As soon as they had set foot and paw into the Castle, Link and Shade had been shepherded up to a luxurious waiting room by a bustling butler. He had talked exuberantly as they made their way. "I must say, all of the staff here had their suspicions about that Ganondorf since he arrived."

"Since he arrived?" Link asked curiously. "I met him before he arrived at the Castle, and he certainly seemed arrogant and self-important." He moved closer to the butler's ear, so that no-one else could hear him. "But then, which foreign prince isn't?"

The butler laughed at this. "Quite true young man! With the possible exception of Prince Reynolds, they all seem to be puffed up. Not quite to the same extent though."

"Prince Reynolds seems like a genuine person…" Link remarked, as Shade sniffed the air, savouring the taste of freshly cooked meat wafted from the kitchens. "He seems kind, compassionate and actually has his head based in the real world, not what just what he thinks."

The butler nodded curtly, as he invited Link to sit down on a plush chair. "I think we'd best let her majesty decide for herself, agreed, young sir?"

Link nodded in response, a small smile bursting onto his face. As he sat down, he felt Shade leap up next to him, and begin to lie down, resting his large head on Link's lap. The butler was disgruntled by the apparent lack of respect, and coughed politely to grab Link's attention.

"Excuse me, but the cleaning staff and her majesty would prefer it if dark fur were not to cover the furniture."

Shade smiled in response. "Come on Shade, you heard the gentleman." Rather reluctantly, Shade got up and thudded to the floor, his armour clanking as he landed. Link sighed as Shade laid down on top of his feet, staring intentionally away from the butler and into the wall.

Realising that he had upset a fairly large wolf, the Butler quickly hurried out of the room, but not before saying, "I'll alert you when the Princess is free." With that, he left, leaving Link to take in the lavish surroundings of the waiting room, whilst Shade began to settle down.

As he gazed around freely, Link noticed that the marking that kept appearing on the back of his hand and Shade's paw kept appearing, as well as the one that appeared on the back of Ganondorf's hand. He thought back over all the times the marking had become readily visible, when he had sliced King Moblin's arm off, and that day, when he had stepped in front of Shade to protect him, and ended up blasting Ganondorf back with his own energy. "What is this?" Link thought. Shade provided no acknowledge of the question, apart from a loud obnoxious yawn, that started to affect Link.

Not too much later, the butler returned. "Her majesty will see you now, if you'll follow me…"

Link rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, the armour covering his arm clanking as he did so. He felt Shade's weight lift off his feet, as Shade sleepily rose up, stretching. Shifting forwards in his seat, Link too rose to his feet, and followed the butler out of the warm waiting room, and into a much cooler hallway. After passing by a few more open doors, the butler stopped outside a large set of closed double doors, and asked the two to wait. Knocking, he popped his head inside, confirmed the Princess was ready, and opened one of the two doors for Shade and Link, gesturing for them to enter.

The room where Zelda was waiting was significantly warmer than the hallway they had just been waiting, and shivered off the last of the cold from the hall. Zelda was sitting at well laid out desk, with small piles of parchment covering its surface. Link noted that her face was looking worn out, a testament to the events of that day. Zelda was still busy writing on parchment, and Link decided to wait patiently for her to finish. Shade however, had different ideas.

Tired of waiting around, he quietly snuck over to the side of Zelda's chair, planning with his large amber eyes.

"Shade, what hell are you doing?" Link thought, cringing. Half expecting Shade to bark to get Zelda's attention, he attempted to move off to stop him.

He needn't have worried though, as Zelda had caught sight of Shade out of the corner of her eye. She stopped writing and grinned, turning her head slightly to look playfully down at the large wolf. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Caught red-pawed, Shade huffed, before slowly walking back over to Link's side. "I did warn you…" Link thought, earning him a hefty flick from Shade's tail.

"Welcome you two. I'm sorry I couldn't have met with you sooner…" Zelda said apologetically. "But due to obvious reasons, I had to help deal with all of the other suitors and my father."

"No need to apologise, your maj… I mean Zelda." Link replied warmly. "How is his majesty? Not too injured I hope?"

Zelda sighed, and Link guessed that he had hit a nerve. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"No, No it's fine." Zelda dismissed, waving her hand, and sinking back into the chair behind her desk. "The blast from Ganondorf incapacitated everyone for a good while. The suitors were younger, so they came around sooner, but my father has not yet come around. Medics are attending to him as we speak."

"I'm sorry to hear that, your majesty." Link said respectfully. Changing the subject, he continued. "You wanted to talk to me, Zelda?"

Zelda took a deep breath and stood up, walking over to Link and Shade. "Yes, that's right. I think it would be better if we were to talk over on those chairs over there. "She gestured towards the corner of the room, where large comfy seats awaited them.

Taking the opportunity presented to him, Shade again leapt up on to a chair, prompting a muffled snort of laughter from Link. Shade turned his head around, and looked imploringly at Zelda, who melted at the sight of his big soppy eyes.

"He's asking if he can lie down!" Link chuckled. "The butler banned him from being on the chairs before."

"Oh of course he can lie there!" Zelda exclaimed, scratching the underside of Shade's head. Making thankful noises, Shade lay flat down, and immediately started snoozing.

"Wouldn't he be more comfortable without his armour on?" Zelda asked inquisitively, as both she and Link took their turn to sit.

"It is safer for us both not to disturb him when he's sleeping." Link replied, relaxing in the welcoming softness of the chair. "He can be a bit… reluctant to wake up, shall we say."

Zelda nodded understandingly. "Well in that case, I won't keep you for too long, but we have a lot to discuss." She paused, thinking logically about what she was to say next. Finally, she looked back to Link.

"What do you know of the Triforce?"

Link racked his brain, knowing that he had heard that term somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where from. "I know of it, but not much more than that."

Zelda looked curiously at him. "Are you sure? Look at your hand, and Shade's paw."

Link gazed down at his left hand, which was still covered in his heavy gauntlets. However, faintly visible through all of the armour was the faint outline of three triangles, one balanced atop the two others, with the right hand triangle faintly glowing. Glancing over at Shade's exposed paw, he noticed that exactly the same symbol was showing.

"I know about these markings, and have done for a long time." Link exclaimed. "But what relation do they have to the 'Triforce'?"

"Link, what you are looking at is the symbol of the Triforce. More importantly, the one on the back of your limbs is the Triforce of Courage." Link's face shot back up to Zelda's own, which was looking intently at the pair of them. "The mark of the hero."

Blood flowed straight to Link's brain as he tried to make sense of this. "The, the hero?" he stuttered. "But, how?"

"The Triforce always manifests itself in those who will lead Hyrule out of its darkest hour." Zelda sighed. "It always happens every few hundred years, meaning that Hyrule is about to enter into trouble again."

"Why? What trouble?" Link asked loudly.

"Think back over what happened today, and what you saw on Ganondorf's hand." Zelda replied. "Look similar to anything you know?"

Link's mind raced back to when he had stepped in front of Shade to defend him from Ganondorf's dark magic. His brain now started whirring as his memory focused on Ganondorf's clenched hand, and the Triforce shining brightly.

"He has the Triforce that is on top of the others…" he breathed.

"He controls the Triforce of Power, which is beyond terrifying." Zelda replied, hands moving up to her mouth. She was going to continue, but Link finished her sentence.

"Because he uses it for evil." Link clenched his fist. "So why would he want to try and kidnap you?"

Link's question was answered as soon as he had asked it, as he noticed another golden glow, coming this time from Zelda's hand.

"I have it based on good reason that he was after this…" She replied, holding her hand up, the Triforce of Wisdom glimmering. Almost as if by divine forces, Link felt himself moving closer towards Zelda, holding his left hand out as he did so. Zelda found herself doing the same thing, and their hands glowed brighter and brighter as they got closer, until their hands were almost touching, and the shine from their hands was blindingly bright.

"As long as the Triforce pieces are controlled by those with a pure heart, Hyrule and our neighbours are safe." Zelda explained, averting her eyes slightly from the light. "But as you can guess, Ganondorf does not have pure intentions, and is throwing the balance into jeopardy."

Link heard movement behind him, and glanced over at Shade, who was now sitting fully up, a glow also emitting from his paw. He jumped off the chair and moved over to Link and Zelda, only increasing the brightness from their hands and paw.

"Oh of course." Zelda said in awe. "It could never be that simple could it?"

"What can't be that simple?" Link inquired.

"The Triforce usually manifests itself in one body, to be its champion. But I now recognize, you two break that tradition." She squatted down to Shade's level, grasping his shining paw in her own hand. "You two share the same Triforce, and as a result will be eternally linked. It's why your bond is so strong, and why Shade has not gotten old already. The Triforce will keep you two at the same ratio of ages. You will grow old together, and most likely die together." She glanced up at Link, who bore a worried expression after hearing her last sentence.

"Whether you die soon or much later on in life, is not for me to know. But I do know that you will be more able to protect yourselves and those around you with your bond."

Link breathed deeply, sitting back down in the chair. "This is a lot to take in all at once. How can you remember all of this?"

Zelda tapped the back of her hand with a small smile. "Wisdom."

Link rolled his eyes in response, as Shade moved back over to Link, nudging Link's arm up and around his body. A new thought came to his head. "What will Ganondorf do if he is released? I mean, I'm pretty sure I saw the Triforce fade from him after we beat him down. But will it return?"

"I fear it may return, but not immediately." Zelda said, reassuring his fears. "But with the power of the Triforce, he will be able to wreak havoc on whoever he pleases." She looked admirably at both Link and Shade, with Link's arm embracing Shade. "You two are the only ones who can stop him. But equipped as you are now, you don't stand a chance against him when he will inevitably use his full power."

"What do you mean?" Link asked, gently scratching behind Shade's ears.

"Your current sword and weapons will do nothing but scratch him." Zelda replied. "Only a truly powerful weapon can injure one such as Ganondorf."

"Where is this weapon?" Link said loudly, standing up. "The sooner we can get it, the less we have to worry."

"Ah, it is never that simple." Zelda replied, offering a half smile. "The goddesses always set out certain 'challenges' for the hero, or heroes in your case, to prove that they are truly who I or anyone else claims them to be. Once you have completed these 'tasks', you can retrieve the sword of evils bane."

Link breathed steadily, prepping his mind. "What should I do first?"

Zelda paused, thinking carefully. "One second. I have to retrieve something for you." With that, she quickly walked out of her study, leaving Link and Shade by themselves.

"I wonder what she's getting." Link pondered. His answer came a few minutes later, as Zelda returned, clutching a fairly large box.

"You could have asked me to carry it…" Link said, noticing how Zelda's face was starting to turn red from the exertion.

Zelda ignored this comment, and shook the box vigorously. "This should all fit. The past heroes have all had similar dimensions." She gestured for Link to open to box. Link's eye shifted down to Shade, who was looking eagerly at the box.

"I think he wants to 'play' with the box after I'm done with it…" he laughed, reaching over to the box. Carefully lifting the lid off of the box, he coughed as dust streamed out from the inside.

"Yeah, that hasn't been moved for a while…" Zelda remarked. "But, it served the last hero well, and I have no doubts that it will serve you well too."

Link wasn't listening, focusing entirely on the tunic that he was lifting out of the box. It was a pleasant green colour, which matched the grass of Hyrule field. He carefully lifted out of the box, and was surprised to find that there was more inside. He carefully put the tunic down, and next lifted out a similarly coloured cap, which was long and billowed in the light breeze that flowed through the room.

"The uniform of the hero." Zelda said quietly. "But that's not all."

Link's attention turned to a sturdy pair of boots that were clumped to one side of the box, whilst a pair of brown trousers lay to the side of the boots.

"Those look a bit tight…" Link remarked, as Shade leapt at the box, tearing at the chewable material.

"You'll find in time that it all has its purposes." Zelda replied. "You know, I can really picture you in that gear. But, I should really let you get back to your barracks for some respite."

"Hold on, I don't know where I need to go!" Link exclaimed. "And I need to figure out what I'm going to say to Captain Flank. I can't just go off duty like that, even with royal permission!"

"Tomorrow, head for a small village on the outskirts of the deep woods called Torma. Once you are there, ask people to guide you to the 'Green Tower'. There, your first trial awaits."

"Torma. I've never heard of it…" Link said, racking his brain. All the while, Shade kept playfully ripping at the box, which was now basically torn to shreds and unrecognizable.

"Torma is a very quiet place, hardly any attention is paid to it." Zelda answered. "Captain Flank will know where to find it." She sighed, looking at the destroyed box.

"You're going to have to carry all that gear yourself now, as your method of transporting it is ruined thanks to a certain 'someone'." She glared down at Shade playfully, who noticed that he was being watched, and turned his head around, meeting her gaze.

"It is never wise to interrupt Shade when he is doing something he wants to be doing." Link explained.

Zelda shook her head, before looking back at Link. "Take care Link. And don't wait too long. The sooner your tasks are accomplished, the less we have to worry." She waited for Link to gather all of his new belongings, before he still knelt down in respect.

"Thank you for your assistance, Zelda."

"No, thank you Link. Take care."

* * *

><p><em>AN: So, the adventure truly begins. What awaits Link in the Green Tower? How will he adapt to the hero's tunic? And will Ganondorf truly regain his power? Find out, next time!_

_Thanks for reading this chapter! Please consider leaving a review if you did enjoy, and I'll see you all next time!_


	13. Kitting up

Link was relieved to slowly trot back into the barracks later that evening, his brain processing the information that the day had given him. Epona had been slightly miffed to have left the attentive hands of the royal stables workers, who had been meticulously brushing her coat and making sure she was well fed. Shade too had been slightly irritated to have the castle, as he had been torn away from ripping the box which contained the hero's gear, which Link now carried.

As they had passed through town, the townsfolk had waved and called out to them, praising them for their efforts in preventing Ganondorf's escape with Zelda. Link respectfully waved in response to them, as Shade barked back to them. As he went, workers were busy lighting big torches that lit the town at night, allowing those moving at night to see.

"About time…" Link thought, glancing up to the sky, noticing the usual patchwork of stars begin to twinkle into visibility. He heard Shade yawn loudly behind him, and chuckled. "Sounds like someone needs some sleep."

Turning down the street that lead to the knights' barracks, Link signalled to the two knights that were standing guard at the large wooden gates. One of them called out to him, "Hey Link! Captain Flank was wondering when you'd show up!" He paused, as he noticed that Link was carrying something. "What you got there?"

Link glanced down at the tunic, before replying quickly. "Something only really for the Captain's eyes." Satisfied with this explanation, the two knights pushed the wooden gates open, allowing the trio to enter. Inside the training courtyard, Link and Shade dismounted, with Link making sure not to drop all of the gear that he was managing to carry under one arm. With his free arm, he led Epona into her stall, settled her down, and went with Shade to find Captain Flank.

After searching fruitlessly around the entire building, Link decided to look for Flank in the one place he never thought he would find him, his office. Walking up to the heavy oak door, Link checked that both he and Shade looked presentable, took off his helmet and quickly rapped on the door.

"Enter!" came Flank's recognizable voice, to which Link obliged. As Link opened the door partially, allowing Shade to sidle in, he saw that his Captain was staring drearily down at multiple reports sitting down at his desk. Looking up, Link was relieved to see Flank's face brighten tenfold.

"Ah! Link and Shade, I was wondering when the Princess would let you go. Tell me, how did…" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw what Link was carrying in his arms. His eye widened slightly, but his facial expression remained static. Slowly but surely, he started to nod, his eyes drawn to the leaf green tunic and sturdy boots.

"I always had my suspicions." He quietly admitted. "Guess the Princess shares in my thoughts."

"I guess that means you know that us two are leaving for the time being." Link replied, as Shade sat down next to where Link stood, shaking his body, making his armour rustle. "Her majesty told us to head for Torma, and the 'Green Tower'.

"Torma…" Flank breathed, sitting back in his chair, and looking up to the ceiling. "That's that small village near to the deep woods. I have not ordered any knight in that direction for a long time."

"Do you know how I would get there?" Link asked. "Or what this 'Green Tower' is?"

Captain Flank narrowed his eyes briefly, before reaching into a seldom used draw, the map draw in his desk. After sifting through a multitude of other maps, he made a quiet noise of success as he found the one he was looking for.

"This should help you." He stated, dropping the dusty map onto his desk, clouds of it billowing up as it hit the hard wood. Carefully, Link placed all his gear down on the yew floor, and moved over to the desk. Delicately picking the map up, he unfolded it, surprised at how stiff it was. "It's like new!" He murmured, loud enough for Flank to hear.

"It was new about 10 years ago. It hasn't really been used, so it has just been collecting dust."

Link's eyes scanned over the map, which was beautifully decorated with streaks of blue for rivers, and huge patches of green representing the grass. More importantly though, the map looked accurate. It took him a minute of searching, but he eventually found Torma, a small name buried in the midst of a thick splodge of trees, with only a thin path in between the trees guiding the way.

"You found it?" Flank asked, standing up to move behind Link, glancing over at the map as well.

"Yeah, just figuring out how I'm going to get to the path leading to Torma…" Link replied, tracing the path with his finger. Moving his finger along the snaking path, he found the entrance almost perpendicular to the walled LonLon Ranch. "I guess I should start at the ranch, until I can see the clearing to the path."

"Seems like a wise idea." Flank mused, scratching the thin stubble underneath his chin. He sighed, resting a hand on Link's broad shoulder. "Don't worry about the knights and your duties. You do an amazing job, but it seems that destiny wants you to take this path, so follow it." He turned away from Link, and crouched down to Shade's level, looking Shade straight in the eye. "I don't understand much of why you have to go, or what will happen to you or Shade on your journey. But know that we are all behind you, and will help you when and however we can."

"Thank you, Captain." Link replied honestly. This earned him a jovial laugh from Flank. "Please Link, it has got to the stage that you can just call me 'Flank'. Nobody knows my first name, so this is as informal and personal as I am willing to get."

"Fair enough, Flank." Link smiled, as Shade barked his approval. A thought crossed Flank's face, as he stood up quickly.

"Link, you need to be prepared for any 'eventualities'…" he started, bracketing with his fingers. "So you need to take bandages and medicine, for yourself and Shade. If this is indeed what I think it to be, and a test from the goddesses to prove you are what we believe you to be, you will face great peril, much greater than the moblins than you are used to fighting." With that said, Flank beckoned for Link and Shade to follow him. Link put the map on top of the rest of his pile, and picked it all up.

He followed suit behind Flank and Shade, who was wagging his tail happily. Flank led them down a flight of stairs and into the store cupboard for the barracks, a room Link had seldom been into. The room was not that impressive, with a low slung ceiling and a few candles at a far end dimly lighting up the bare bricked room. Filling the room were cupboards upon cupboards, which Flank was now searching through. As he opened one cupboard, Link had to steady himself as a strong stench of disgusting medicine filled the room.

"Geh, that's strong." Link gasped, opening the door again so that Shade could breathe properly. Shade quickly ran out, and distanced himself from the room, peering over at Link.

"Thankfully, you aren't taking some of that." Flank laughed, grabbing several rolls of bandages. Opening another cupboard, Flank reached for several small bottles, all filled with a red liquid.

"These are what you'll be taking, and possibly what you might survive on…" Flank remarked, bundling the bandages and potions together in a loose package of cloth, before handing it over to Link. "That red liquid will stem heavy blood flow. How? Don't ask me."

Link nodded, accepting the bundle. He felt tiredness start to take over his body, and yawned widely. Shade joined in with him, as Flank again laughed. "I think that you'd best get some rest now. I'd advise you to get a head start tomorrow morning, but don't leave before you pack some food. You don't know how long you're going to be stuck in that 'Green Tower'.

"I'll make sure I don't forget." Link joked, turning to head back up the stairs to his room, clutching everything tightly to his chest.

"Link!" Flank called out. Link turned his head slightly, to see his mentor standing in the door to the storeroom, looking proudly at him. "Don't forget, you can wear your badge of the Hyrulian knights."

"I won't. Thank you Flank." Link sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Let's just hope we get through this in one piece."

Early next morning, before the bell to wake all the knights up had been rung, Link groaned to consciousness, feeling the familiar weight of Shade's body pressing down on him. Peeking an eye open, he saw Shade fully awake, lying face to face with him, tongue hanging out.

"Morning…" he began, before Shade began eagerly licking his face. Playfully wrestling with him, Link managed to push Shade off his body, Shade eagerly grizzling in his face.

"Give it up Shade!" Link chuckled, sneaking a hand down to Shade's belly, and rubbing vigorously. Shade responded by closing his happiness in pleasure, lifting a paw up in the process. Link took this opportunity to give one more push, and reversed the situation, Shade now lying flat on his back.

Glancing over at the pile of gear sitting in the chair in his room, Link felt a sense of anticipation, wondering what people would say when they saw him wearing the legendary uniform of the hero. Lifting off Shade, he moved over to the wash basin, and quickly washed his face and chest, drying himself off.

He turned around to get changed into his armour, only to remember what he was meant to be wearing. He first put on the trousers, which he was glad to find that they fit him perfectly, with no bagginess.

"Impressive…" he thought, fastening them around his waist. He then turned to the green tunic, which looked fresh, despite being stored away for goodness knows how long. Lifting it up, he took a closer feel, and was amazed to find quite a thick layer of chain mail embedded in the tunic. Lifting it up and over his shoulders, he shimmied into it, expecting to feel weighted down by the chain mail. But, he found that it was incredibly light on him, and he moved his arms freely around, getting used to the feeling.

He next found the boots, but first put on a thick pair of long socks underneath. Once they were on, he put each boot on in turn, each one feeling very sturdy and heavy. He worked his feet into them, all the while in awe at the fact that this ancient gear fit him perfectly. Tightening each boots, he tapped them on the floor, testing how they moved and felt. Satisfied that they were up to the task, he moved to the next item of clothing, the hat.

Link had never seen a hat like this before, and was wondering how a hero in the past could have found this design useful, as he could see it easily getting stuck somewhere. Shaking his head, he carefully positioned the hat onto his head, so that the length hung down along his back. He turned back to the chair, tucking parts of his long hair underneath the band in the hat as he did. He realised that despite everything, his hands and forearms were unprotected, so he removed the gauntlets from his suit of armour, and put them on. The shining metal did stand out from the rest of the tunic, but Link thought it would have to do.

He turned back to Shade, who was staring admirably at Link with his big amber eyes. Tongue hanging out of his mouth, he leapt down off the bed to Link's side. Link realised that there was no armour for a hero's wolf, so he got Shade's usual armour and strapped it to him. Once it was on, Link looked into the mirror that was behind the wash basin, and almost had to do a double take. A green figure stared back at him, looking heroic and brave, with Shade standing proudly by his side.

Feeling a surge of energy, Link breathed deeply, and opened the door to his room and went out with Shade into the still sleeping barracks. The first step on his journey.

* * *

><p><em>AN: This chapter is slightly shorter than the others, which I apologise for. I am currently preparing for a university interview, so I hope you understand me wanting to take some time getting ready. Anyways, Link and Shade set off on their journey in the next chapter. What will meet them in Torma? Will they survive the 'Green Tower'? And what of Ganondorf? Find out soon!_


	14. Torma

Link was still getting used to the feeling of the hero's tunic as he prepared Epona in the stables, a good while after leaving his and Shade's room. They had been going down the stairs when Link had remembered the Hyrulian Knight's badge, which he had left on a ledge in their room. Leaving Shade on the stairs, he quietly jogged back, he had efficiently pinned it to the tunic, placing it on the right hand side of his collarbone. Checking that it was fitted properly and that he had not left anything else of his or Shade's kit, he then returned to Shade who was waiting patiently, before they headed off to the kitchens to get enough food for at least a week. Link did not know how long he would be away in Torma, but thought that a week's worth of food would certainly suffice.

The kitchen staff in the barracks were very understanding, handing over multiple packs of dried and smoked meat, as well as several loaves of bread. Link knew that Shade would eat anything that he ate, so he didn't press them for more meat. They also gave them both large water flasks, which he could easily refill in any of the thousands of streams that congregated in the woods. The staff also gave both of them a fitting breakfast for a send-off, leaving them both utterly stuffed. Link thanked them gratefully, as Shade rubbed up against several of their legs, before they made their way towards the stables, all geared up.

As Link checked for one final time that he had his gear, the map showing the war to Torma and lastly his sword and shield, he toyed in his mind whether or not to put Epona's horse armour on. He knew that she herself wasn't riding out to battle, so he decided not to weigh her down further. Once she had been fed and had drunk, he helped Shade up onto Epona's back, before leading them out of the stables and into the chilly morning air in the courtyard.

As Link looked up into the morning sky, he was glad to see that there were very few clouds already in the sky, a hopeful sign that there would not be any rain. The blackness of night was slowly giving way to the morning sun, which was yearning to arise above the horizon. The two knights who had been outside the barracks on guard all night called over to Link as he mounted Epona.

"Hey Link, where are you going?"

Link took a second to figure out exactly what the best response to that question would be. Epona's hoof clopping on the ground brought him back to the two guards, and he replied, "On a journey." He said no more, only urging Epona onwards, and out into Castletown.

Ganondorf remained silent. He had been silent ever since arriving in the prison cell, storing energy. The guards noisily slid a tray of food at him every twelve hours and taunted him, but he was alone apart from those encounters. The guards had become particularly fond of more sinister threats as of recent.

"I hear the executioner is already talking to the judge who will hear your trial. The judge seems to have already sided, which is such a shame… for you."

"Keep that attitude whilst you can." Ganondorf had sneered internally, not raising his voice. He just kept sitting on his bed when he wasn't sleeping, just staring at the door.

Waiting.

As Epona trotted out onto the huge green space of Hyrule field, Link took out his map, and checked where exactly he was meant to be heading. Tracing with a gauntleted finger, he found where the clearing in the forest he had to find would be, and then made a perpendicular line out to where the clearing would meet the circular walls of LonLon ranch. Having found it and memorized where they would have to go, he pocketed the map, something he couldn't do in his big suit of armour.

Link was secretly relieved to not be wearing the heavy armour that he was now used to wearing, as it could get incredulously stuffy on a hot day. In contrast, the tunic that he was now wearing was incredibly light, yet still sturdy. The only thing that annoyed him was that the tip of his hat kept tapping against his back irritatingly.

"Still, there have to be some drawbacks to everything…" he thought, stroking Shade quickly before spurring Epona into a canter. At this pace, they made fast progress up to the walls of the ranch, which Link was preparing to circle around until they found the clearing and path in the forest.

It occurred to him as they approached the ranch that Malon would want to know what he would be doing, especially after their encounter the previous day. Judging the time by the position of the sun, which had now fully risen above the horizon, he guessed that they would be up on the ranch, and preparing to feed the horses and cows. Knowing that it would be best to stop by quickly and then get on the way again, Link halted Epona, before turning her around on the spot expertly.

"Change of plan girl." He whispered into her ear, gently easing her forwards. "Going to see an old friend briefly before we go."

Seemingly understanding this, Epona whinnied her approval, eagerly galloping off towards the entrance to the ranch.

Slowing Epona down as they entered the ranch, Link and Shade's ears immediately picked up the sweet tones of Malon's voice, as she sang the song she always seemed to perform. Slowly guiding Epona around the large barn at the edge of the horse corral, Shade suddenly barked excitedly as both he and Link caught sight of Malon, back turned to them in the middle of the corral, tending to the horses.

Without a warning, Shade leapt off Epona's back, and ran forwards towards Malon in the corral, leaving a perplexed Link behind. It was only as he saw Malon turn towards the sound of Shade's running that he realised what the crafty wolf had done.

"You sneaky git…" Link thought bemusedly, spurring Epona on through the gates of the corral. The horses that Malon had been tending to all dispersed as Shade ran forwards, who stopped as he approached Malon's now laughing figure, and jumping up excitedly at her.

"Why hello Shade!" she giggled, affectionately stroking and patting his exposed fur. He made excited whining noises as she did so, especially when she lifted the flap of armour on his head to kiss the crown of his head.

As Link approached, Malon looked up with a huge smile on her face, which soon turned to confusion as she that Link was not wearing his armour.

"Link?" she asked, ceasing to stroke Shade as she stood fully up. Shade grumbled, dropping back down to all fours.

"Hey Mal…" Link replied, dismounting Epona, who came over to Malon with him.

"Why are you wearing that, and not your armour?" she questioned, walking up to him and hugging him, as well as stroking Epona's nose.

"It's complicated…" he began, fondly stroking her copper hair. "Essentially, I'm off duty with the knights for a short while, although I don't know how long."

"Why?" she replied, looking up at him.

"Well, it was all her majesty's idea after the whole incident with Ganondorf yesterday. And also a result of these…" he lifted his left hand up for her to see, as well as gesturing to Shade's paw. Malon looked carefully, noticing the faint outline of 3 triangles on each of their appendages, with the bottom right hand triangle filled in.

"What has it got to do with those markings?" she asked.

"Three triangles. All put together they are the complete Triforce." Link responded. "Ganondorf holds the Triforce of Power, which is this one." He pointed with his right hand towards the top triangle. "He wanted control of all three so he could wield supreme power, so he tried to kidnap Princess Zelda yesterday."

"Why?"

"She holds the Triforce of Wisdom, which is the one on the bottom left. Problem was, he didn't know who was holding the Triforce of Courage. Namely, us two…" he replied, pointing down to Shade's paw.

Malon stared up at him incredulously. "I've heard the stories. That means you are the…"

"The hero." Link nodded, holding her close to him. "And that's why I'm wearing the hero's tunic now. I've been asked by the Princess to make sure that Ganondorf can be 'dealt with' when he eventually recovers his power. And to do so, I need a truly powerful weapon, the sword of evil's bane." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"To get that, all 'heroes' need to go through certain 'tests', which are always dangerous, and unpredictable. That's where I'm headed right now. The first challenge."

Malon had flinched at the word 'dangerous' burying herself in Link's shoulder. "Are you going to survive?" she asked fearfully, her words muffled against his tunic.

"Shade's with me as always…" Link smiled, glancing down at his wolf. "Together, not much can stand in our way."

Realising this, Malon broke away from Link. "You'd better get on with it then, hadn't you?" She crouched down to Shade, giving him a last bit of affection. She did press her face to his face, and tried to discreetly whisper into his pointed ears, but Link managed to overhear.

"Bring him back safely." She whispered, which Shade responded to by licking her hand gently.

"Say something?" Link asked, trying to keep a lurking smile at bay. She turned round, shocked.

"Erm, did you hear that?" she giggled, a small blush coming to her cheeks.

"Slightly." Link laughed, drawing her in. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. We've got each other's backs…" He was interrupted by Malon adamantly pressing her lips to his, kissing him warmly. Again stunned by her advances, he tried to think of what to do, only to entwine his hands briefly in her hair as he returned the gesture.

The couple were interrupted by Epona neighing loudly and impatiently, bored with waiting around. Malon giggled as they separated, and patted Epona's back caringly. "Make sure they stay safe…"

Link took this opportunity to heave Shade onto Epona's back, before mounting her himself, adjusting himself in the saddle, before giving Malon a final look. "Take care Mal. I promise we'll be back." With that, he reared Epona up, before cantering out of the corral, leaving a flustered Malon waving to them as they went.

Galloping as they left the ranch, Link turned his thoughts back to the task at hand, following the walls of the ranch round. The ranch walls were fairly large, and it took Epona a good while to make her way to the point where Link thought the clearing would be in the woods. Turning sharply in the direction of the woods, away from the ranch walls, Link scanned the treeline in the distance for any clear sign of a clearing.

Thankfully, his map reading skills were on point, and he soon made out a small clearing of trees, heading deeper into the forest. He spurred Epona onwards, until he also saw a lone signpost at the edge of the pathway, pointing along the trail.

As Epona reached the clearing, Link slowed her down to a gentle walk so that he could read the sign as they went past. The sun was shining through the leaves, vaguely mottling the words on the sign, but it was still clear enough for Link to read.

'Torma. 5'

"Seems like the map was correct…" Link thought, as he urged Epona forwards along the path, and deep into the forest.

Hundreds of guays and keese were perching on branches on either side of the forest path, silently eyeing the trio as they made their way, unsettling Link. He decided to try and take his mind off their beady stairs by reaching into his satchel that was lying in front of him, and withdrawing two slices of meat. He gave one to Shade, who eagerly gulped it down, whilst Link took his time in chewing it, as well as taking a swig of the cool water.

Several guays swooped above them as Epona follow a gradual curve left in the road, startling her slightly. Link was quick to ease her fears, gently patting her neck. He looked ahead along the path, the far end chocked by the thin rays of light that managed to pierce the thick foliage far above them, obscuring much of what lay along their way.

A good ten minutes later, the road finally turned again, this time a much sharper right. Epona followed it carefully, prancing around old rotted tree stumps that littered the forest floor. Link was beginning to wonder whether they would ever reach the end of the road, when he made out a large wooden building in the distance.

The building seemed old and rotten as they approached, with evidence of woodworms having feasted. However frail the building seemed, Link could not deny the fact that it was tall, blocking out any view of the canopy behind it. The path also stopped at this building, suggesting that this was where Link was meant to be.

Link dismounted Epona as did Shade, but did not tie her up. He had noticed that there were a small stream winding its way past the building, which seemed suitable for Epona to stay by. The stream also fed a lush turf of grass nearby, which Link let Epona go over to. "Don't stray too far…" he warned, stroking her nose lovingly as she went. She ignored him, stooping her head down for a drink, flicking her tail in doing so.

Link and Shade both turned their attention to the building, and a set of large doors set into the woodwork. There was no sign or notice above the doors, so Link gently knocked on the doors, in case some lunatic did live there. After several minutes of waiting, Link pushed hard on the doors, which gave way under his force.

As Link and Shade pushed their way through the doors, they both felt dust fall from the ceiling high above, which was spider infested and dark. However, Link noted that it was incredibly bright inside, due to the many torches that hung from the walls, despite no evidence that someone remained in the building to maintain it

The walls were ornately decorated, covered with symbols of the Triforce, with painted figures bowing down to the Triforce, worshiping it. Link took a minute to look closer at the paintings, whilst Shade pressed forwards, taking in the scents and sights.

Link heard Shade barking, and he turned his head around, hand on sword. He scurried over to Shade, to see what Shade had alerted him to. Link's gaze was met by a low tunnel that led into musky light, with faintly flickering torches at the end, along with a sturdy looking door, painted green.

Above the tunnel, a sign had been nailed in the wall, which Link read with anticipation.

"Welcome Hero, your first challenge lies here, in the ancient place of Torma. Proceed to your first trial, the Green Tower."

* * *

><p><em>AN: What lies ahead in store for Link and Shade? Will they survive the Green tower? And will Ganondorf recover his power before they achieve what they need to? Find out soon!_

_Thanks for reading this chapter of 'A hero and his wolf'! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, and I'll see you next time._


	15. Exploring the depths

Stooping low as they went, Link and Shade walked cautiously towards the heavy green door, which sported a heavy brass handle. The flickering from the torches either side of it gave the whole scene a rather sinister atmosphere, not helped by the change from the old lacquered wood to cold stone slabs along the tunnel, which forewarned the bleakness of what lay beyond.

Approaching the heavy door, Link glanced down at Shade, who kept his large amber eyes open for any sign of danger. "Ready?" he whispered, clasping the unfriendly handle, giving it a test shake. Shade responded by moving closer to Link, showing his nervousness.

"I share your attitude…" Link whispered, before firmly turning the handle to the right. As he pushed, he was relieved to feel the door going with him, but less excited about the ominous groan it made. Steeling himself, Link pressed on, looking into the gloom that lay before them. He heard the door collide with a wall, and took a deep breath, before leading Shade on into the darkness.

Link and Shade crept forwards, with Link struggling to see much in the darkness. Although torches lined the narrow walls and low ceiling of the long passage that stretched before them, they were few and far between, leaving large patches of almost pitch blackness. Link was thankful though that Shade was by his side, as Shade had the typical night vision of a wolf, and could easily tell when slight bumps in the floor were coming.

"You go first, so we both know when things come up…" Link thought to Shade. Shade trotted in front of Link and took the lead, scouting a few steps in front of him. They continued on like this for a little while, whilst the passage began to twist and turn in one direction and then the other.

Eventually, the passage opened up into a dimly lit chamber, which was several metres long and many more wide. Link glanced around cautiously as they walked in, taking note of small details, such as the chiselled marks on the walls. The room only had one door in it, which didn't seem to have a doorknob or anything to open it with. Taking his time, Link walked aside Shade as they approached it, reaching out his hand to touch it.

Shade suddenly barked, stopping Link his tracks, his fingers inches away from the door. No sooner had he heard it, he heard a screeching metallic noise, and leapt back in shock as steel bars slammed down from small holes under the door frame, as if it were a portcullis. The bars pierced into the paved floor, entering small holes that Link had failed to notice.

"Thanks for the advance warning…" he thought, turning around to thank Shade, before freezing at a new, more terrifying sound. He couldn't quite make out what it was, some sort of shuffling or rustling, but whatever it was didn't sound good. Shade had also picked up the same sound, and along with Link, craned his head up to the ceiling, which was impossible to see in the gloom and darkness of the room.

Shade started grizzling and growling as he managed to pick something out of the darkness, which Link couldn't see.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, before feeling Shade move backwards into him, prompting him to shuffle backwards. His question was answered as a great black spider dropped down from the ceiling on its web. Shade bared his teeth as Link drew his sword and shield, all the while the spider settled down on the stone floor on its eight spindly legs, its angry red eyes fixating on the duo. They all stayed like that for moments, glaring indignantly at each other, Shade's growling breaking the silence, before Shade roared and leapt forwards at the spider, teeth bared and ready.

The spider easily saw Shade's lunge coming, and scuttled out of the way to the left, leaving Shade sliding slightly across the floor when he landed. He quickly jumped around, howling in anger. The spider retorted by rearing up, reaching nearly to the same height as Link, revealing its deadly fangs, dripping with poison.

"Keep your distance!" Link thought worriedly to Shade, "If it bites you, it looks like you're done for!" He raised his shield, in case the spider tried to attack him head on. No such opportunity arose, as the spider slammed back down onto all eights, its eyes glinting in the flashing torchlight. It turned to face Link head on, tapping its front two legs eagerly, waiting to pounce. This left its huge black abdomen exposed, streaked with angry red marks.

"Shade, get behind it. If it lunges for me, you know what to do!" Link thought quickly, preparing himself for the incoming attack. Shade understood immediately, silently stalking up behind the spider. No sooner had Link thought this, the spider charged towards him, scuttling at incredible speed. Link slashed his sword vigorously in the spider's direction as a deterrent, which it nimbly dodged as it almost hopped sideways, ready to attack Link side on.

Shade had lunged at the spider, claws unfurled and ready to dig in, but missed the spider as it dodged, landing hard on the ground. The spider had both of them in its eyesight again, and made a loud crackling sound, as it clicked its fangs together. It charged again, this time aiming at Shade. Link noticed this and quickly gave orders to Shade.

"Back up, I can finish this now!"

Shade obliged, leaping backwards, which invited the spider to continue its pursuit, preparing its fangs. As the spider scuttled past Link, it had forgotten the fact that Link had his sword drawn, and couldn't react to Link raising his sword above his head, and leaping towards the spider. Yelling loudly, he drove his sword down forcefully, stabbing through the abdomen of the spider. The spider screeched in agony as green pus erupted from the wound on its abdomen, spilling over the floor.

Shade took this time while it was distracted to halt his retreat, before leaping forwards on his own, claws poised. The spider could do little but watch the huge black wolf bearing down on him from the air, teeth and claws all threatening to rip it to shreds. It screeched prematurely, as Link stamped down heavily on its rear legs, snapping their fragile frames. Shade's claws slashed at the spider's eyes, blinding it as liquid poured from all eight eyes. Shade's jaws went in for the kill, closing around the spider, before yanking his head up, ripping the spider in half.

As Shade landed on the ground again, Link was awed to see the spider's body fade into a purple cloud of mist, before any trace vanished before them. His sword which had been stuck inside the spider's abdomen broke free from all constraint, and showed no trace of the spider's injuries. As he raised it up to his eyes to double check, he heard another metallic grating noise. He spun around as did Shade, and saw the steel bars rising up from in front of the door, allowing them to continue.

"How did it know to do that?" Link asked out loud, as Shade ambled up to him. Link crouched down to Shade, petting and scratching behind his pointed ears, after lifting the metal cover on his head. "Good job Shade…" he whispered, ruffling his wolf's head. Shade whined happily, eagerly accepting this treatment, pawing at the ground. Getting back to business, Link carefully lowered Shade's head armour again. "Ready for business…" he thought.

Link stood up again, breathing deeply. "That was only the beginning, so what the hell is going to be further on?" he asked, recollecting his thoughts. His attention turned back to the door, which stood ready to be opened. "How?" Link thought, as he walked up to the door. He half expected the metal bars to block his access again, but thankfully, they stayed in place.

Seeing no easy way to open the door, Link placed his hands on the cold stone, which barely reflected the light from the torches. He was pleasantly surprised to feel the door give a little when he applied pressure to it, but in no obvious direction. He pushed on both sides, but to no avail.

Shade walked up and started gesturing up repeatedly with his head, drawing Link's attention.

"Up?" he thought. Shade continued to gesture, so Link crouched slightly, and pushed up. He felt a small amount of stone dust drift down, but the door moved up without much fuss, staying up when it reached the top of the frame. Wasting no time, Link and Shade hurried through, and gasped when the door slammed down again as soon as they had both passed through.

They took in their new surroundings, which was a large open room, wide in all directions. There seemed to be no torches in the room, but Link could see all parts of the room clearly illuminated. Coming down from above was what looked like a large stone spider, unsettling both heroes. Looking behind the spider, Link made out another door, covered with more metallic bars. The door was atop a platform high up, which there was a large staircase leading up to, almost starting at their feet. The stones now had a slight green tinge, which was a very subtle change that Link noticed.

Shade turned his head to the left, where he saw a large beautifully decorated wooden chest. He nudged Link, gesturing with his muzzle. Link saw what Shade was gesturing towards, and walked up to the chest. He saw no obvious lock on the chest, and started to move his hands towards the clearly marked lid. He paused, thinking about what happened the last time he had touched something that it was obvious he needed to touch. This time, he checked all around the chest, looking for any wires that might set off a trap. He saw nothing that could possibly threaten either of them, so he slowly lifted the lid of the chest, prepared to defend himself should anything happen.

The chest creaked loudly as he lifted the lid all the way back, settling as it reached the limits of its hinges. Looking inside the chest, Link's gaze met a light pair of gauntlets, as well as something curved wrapped in an animal skin. He lifted the gauntlets, which had padded undersides, ideal for gripping anything.

He glanced at the gauntlets that he was currently wearing, the standard issue for all Hyrule Knights. They were heavy and cumbersome, fully plated in steel. The ones he was now holding looked much lighter, but just as sturdy.

Steadily, he eased his current gauntlets off, and put them in the bag that was behind him, so that he could return them to the barracks when they returned. With that done, he worked the new gauntlets on, flexing his fingers once they were fully on. Satisfied that they granted him full use of his hands, he turned his attention to the curved animal skin, which looked like a pouch with a tied neck.

He eased the neck of the bag apart, and reached inside once he could fit his hand inside. He was vaguely aware of Shade looking around behind him, but paid little attention to the wolf. His hands met a cold material. Metal?

He moved his fingers around the object, feeling that it had two longer edges, and a sturdier central bit. Pulling the whole thing out of the animal skin, his gaze met a shining boomerang, although unlike any he had seen before.

This boomerang had two metal blades for wings, perpendicular to each other, with a large red stone where they met, holding the blades together. Just moving it through the air, Link could tell how sharp the blades were, and thought about how quickly the fight with the spider could have been with this.

Standing up from the chest, Link looked up and around the room, seeing how big the space was. He saw Shade up at the top of the stairs, looking up towards the back of the stone spider, eyeing something. Link pulled his left hand back, holding one of the boomerang's blades. He threw the boomerang with a flick of his wrist, testing to see how well it flew. The boomerang whistled as it seemed to cut the air in twain, curving around the room, flying high above the staircase. As it started to curve back towards him, Link had the momentary thought that it could cut his hand off if he caught it, at the speed it was travelling.

Despite this, Link held his hand up as the boomerang screeched back towards him, and closed his fingers around a sharp wing as it met his hand. He was pleasantly surprised when his hand wasn't removed from his body, the padded fingers halting the blade in its path. "Interesting…" Link thought.

His attention was drawn back to Shade, who had started barking loudly up at the rear of the spider, calling out for Link. Link kept the boomerang in his hand as he ran up the stairs, halting when he reached Shade. Turning around to look where Shade was looking, he saw that the thorax of the stone spider was tipped with a large blue stone.

"A switch?" he thought, glancing behind him at the metal bars which barred his entrance to the next room. He glanced up again at the stone, which was far out of his reach, or Shade's leap. He glanced down at the boomerang again, before the gears clicked in his head.

"Get behind me Shade." He thought, raising the boomerang with his left hand. Shade scampered behind him as Link released the boomerang forwards, sending it towards the stone. He heard a loud click and clanging noise as the two connected. He half expected the boomerang to get stuck in the stone, but saw that it passed straight through, and continued on to return to his hand.

He heard the now familiar scraping of metal, and looked as the bars slid back up into the door frame, concealed from view. He glanced down at Shade, whilst sliding the boomerang back into the leather skin that he found it in, and attaching the whole pouch to his waist.

"Ready?" he thought to Shade. Shade barked in response, to which Link chuckled, and lifted the stone slab of a door, grunting as it raised. They passed through to the next room, and saw the challenge that lay ahead.

"Great…"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Here ends the chapter of 'A hero and his wolf'. Link and Shade explored the first part of the 'Green Tower', which isn't much of a tower so far. But that will change, mark my words…_

_Thank you for reading! Next time, Link and Shade continue to explore the murky secrets of the Green Tower. What awaits them in the darkness? More spiders? (You might see a trend being set here…). Anyways, I will see you next time!_


	16. Spiders

"Great…" Link groaned monotonously, as he gazed disappointedly at the scene that lay before them both. What they both saw was faintly lid spiralling staircase, curving so tightly that he could not get any sense of how high it continued upwards. The staircase itself was paved in faint green tiles, reflecting the setting of the entire location of Torma.

He looked down at Shade, who sighed with his whole body noisily at the thought of more exertion.

"Well, we'd best get a move on I suppose…" He readily drew his sword and shield, prepared for anything, and began moving up the outer edge of the circular steps, always looking up and ahead. Shade trotted stayed behind him in the shadows, ready to pounce at anything that attacked them.

Many, many steps and turns later, Link was both relieved and nervous to see the stairs stop curving, and finish at the entrance to another door, that this time did have a handle. Reaching for it tentatively, Link twisted the dull metal, and it reluctantly gave way to them.

The room that lay before them was pitch black, apart from a solitary faint torch at the far end of the chamber, illuminating a door that they would both have to reach. The darkness was so intense that Link could not see Shade's body despite being inches away from him, the black wolf camouflaged perfectly. The only things giving him away were his large amber eyes that shone brightly, and the armour plating he wore, reflecting some light from the distant candle.

As the two progressed carefully towards the light in the distance, they kept stopping, craning their heads around to check what they had heard. Link could have sworn that he had heard more rustling, similar to the noises that the spider they fought previously had made. He and Shade luckily found that nothing was attacking them yet, so they warily pressed on, and on, and on…

"I swear that torch is not getting any closer…" Link thought, squinting his eyes as if that would help solve the problem. He changed pace, slowly jogging towards the torch in the distance, which never seemed to get any closer. Shade ran at the same pace, but neither of them were making any progress.

Link quickly got irritated, and started to run full speed, determined to get to the end of the room before he ran out of energy. Yet all they did was stay in the same place, the room seemingly unwilling to let them progress.

Infuriated by his apparent lack of progress, Link slowed down to catch his breath and plan what they were going to do in this situation. Strangely, as he slowed down, the torch in the distance seemed to move further away.

"What?" Link questioned out loud, slowing down to an absolute stop, as did Shade. Together, they both witnessed the torch and door get further and further away, until it stopped moving. Perplexed, Shade cocked his head to the side, trying to scout in the darkness for what they were missing.

"I'm just as confused as you, buddy." Link admitted, crouching down. It was then that he noticed that one of the laces on his boots was coming loose, and decided that it would be necessary to do it up again. He untied the lace completely, letting one end fall to the floor in front of his boot whilst preparing the rest of the lace.

Link moved to tie the two laces together, before realising something. He was sure that the lace had landed further away in front of him when he had untied it, but it was now right back at the side of his foot. Confused, both he and Shade watched as he placed the lace back out in front of him, at a fair distance.

Both were amazed to see the lace slowly return to beside his foot again, where he slowly tied up. Link decided that more testing was in order. "Stay right there." He said to Shade, before taking a single large step forwards onto what he thought was stationary floor. Looking behind at the wolf, he found himself shortly back where Shade had remained, despite taking the step forwards.

Lying flat on his stomach, Link strained his eyes in the faint light to look at the floor in front of him. As he did so, he became painfully aware of an incredibly quiet grinding noise, which was coming from the floor. He reached into the satchel that was resting behind him, and fumbled around inside it, looking for a small box of matches that knights always carried with them, in case of needing to light a fire whilst on patrol.

Finding the box eventually, Link brought the box in front of him and Shade, withdrawing a single match. Striking it against the rough side of the box, the match caught ablaze, and revealed what had been stopping the pair from progressing.

Link slapped his forehead loudly when he realised what it was. A small section of the floor was moving backwards, and seemed to respond to any speed at which the person on it was going. Looking closer, Link saw a thin gap in the floor, where the moving bit circled underneath again, allowing continuous motion.

"Now that is impressive…" Link grumbled, standing up. He thought about trying to jump the portion of the floor that was moving, but on second glances, it was far too long to try and jump.

"Now, think about it logically." Link thought. "This is all a trial, and there must be a solution. We've found what the problem is, so I must be able to progress. But how?"

He held the twitching match up, illuminating part of the room for his inspection. He saw nothing on the ceiling or the walls around him that looked as if it could stop the movement. Turning around, Link audibly growled in annoyance as he figured out what would stop the floor from moving. On the wall right by the entrance they came into the room by, there was a large crystal, concealed by the open door. Now that the door was closed, the switch was clearly visible and was just standing there, almost mocking him.

"That's just rude." He snorted, drawing his sword as he walked over to it. A quick blow on the switch's surface gave him the results he had been after. From nowhere, light illuminated the entire room, revealing that the patch of moving floor was not in fact that long. The moving section of floor slowed down, as silently as it had been running for all the time that Link and Shade had been in the room.

"Clever…" Link thought as he and Shade now easily made their way over to the door at the far end of the room. "A near silent moving floor that stops you from going forwards. And a hidden switch. Just brilliant."

Opening the door to the next room, Link instinctively checked on either side of the room as they entered, searching for more concealed switches. Thankfully, he found none. He noticed that Shade had stopped alongside him, and was gazing up the ceiling, fur raised. Glancing upwards himself, Link saw what Shade had been staring at, and shifted his shield into his right hand expectantly.

Spider webs covered the ceiling and walls of the room, with no obvious sign of inhabitants. As Link and Shade crept forwards through the large room, which had a sharp left turn in it, they became painfully aware of their own footsteps, and the sound ricocheting around the room.

Link stopped, now absolute in his belief that he had heard some sort of clicking or shuffling. Scanning the ceiling quickly for any movement, he paled as he saw some of the webs above start moving slowly, and then gradually pick up pace in their movements. Soon, multiple webs were swinging violently from side to side, and seemed to be working themselves off of the ceiling. The webs were all large and bulbous, appearing to contain something each. Shortly, they all fell one by one onto the floor, and continued to move worryingly.

Shade moved protectively in front of Link, teeth and claws ready to strike. Link prepped himself, giving his sword a few test rotations, whilst keeping his shield steadily up in the air. One by one, the spider webs burst with loud ripping noises, which worried Link to no end. Slowly but surely, several large spiders eased their way out of their webs, all similarly sized to the one they had fought alone but a few minutes ago. They all seemed to stretch their eight appendages, flexing them and readying themselves. Then, they all turned towards Link and Shade, staring silently at the pair, working out what to do to the miscreants who had disturbed their slumber.

Link gulped nervously as Shade growled again, teeth fully bared in a terrifying snarl, as all the spiders reared up, and charged forwards in one mass.

As if in slow motion, Link studied the scene before him. Shade was keeping his ground, opening his mouth to prepare to bite the nearest spider. Meanwhile, the spiders were all charging as an unorganised mass, regularly colliding limb with each other. Noticing this all in the space of a fraction of a second, Link took quick action. Quickly reaching into the pouch by his side, he withdrew the bladed boomerang, and released it into the melee of spiders.

Seeing the glint of metal out of the corner of his eye, Shade paced back a few steps as the boomerang rushed past him, inches from his armour. The approaching spiders didn't have time to recognize the fatal object heading straight for them, and continued their advance, walking forwards into the spiralling boomerang.

The boomerang made clean work of all the spiders, ripping silently through their vile bodies like soft butter, sending mounds of dismembered legs and still twitching abdomens through the air. Shade watched in amusement as one spider landed close by him, its eight emotionless eyes staring up at him, whilst its detached legs were still flailing a good few feet away. Shade went in for mercy kills, quickly biting down on the spiders that were still alive, whilst avoiding their poisonous fangs.

As the boomerang returned itself to Link's awaiting gauntlet, the pair were both aware of new noise. "Burning?" Link thought, gazing all around the room to find the source of the noise. A sudden burst of orange light from the far end of the room brightly illuminated them, allowing them to fully see the room. A large fire was burning away at one wall, which was completely covered in spider webs, which were singing at their epicentres and dropping to the floor, smouldering. As the webs dropped, Link saw that a door was being revealed, concealed behind the mass of webs.

As the webs continued to burn, Link decided to re-energize both of them, setting his satchel down in front of him, and withdrawing some sliced meat and water for them both. Shade wolfed the meat down quickly, savouring the taste with large broad licking of his lips, whilst Link ate slowly, calming his nerves. He reached for the water bottles he had brought, realising that he had not packed a water bowl or anything for Shade.

"Looks like I'm pouring this into your mouth…" he thought, shaking the bottle in front of Shade, who was still enjoying his morsel. Shade walked up to the water bottle, openings his jaws wide as Link unscrewed the lid, pouring some of the energy restoring water down his wolf's gullet, quenching his thirst. Taking some water for himself, his eyes glanced back at the doorway that was now clearly visible, and passable.

As the last remaining scraps of web fell from the door frame, Link saw that more writing was inscribed above the door, seemingly in the same hand as the previous message, above the tunnel they entered from.

"You made it this far. Can you purge the darkness though? Good luck."

Link groaned as he read the message. "Well that's cheerful." He heard whining behind him, and snorted as he saw Shade stretching behind him, before returning to his side.

"Ready?" he asked, giving his sword a test spin, before moving towards the door. Shade growled in acknowledgement, staring up at Link's hand, which now reached towards the door, which he then had to hoist upwards with his upper body. More dust fell onto him as he did so, but he kept it up for Shade to pass through, before letting the door fall down behind him.

As he let the door slam back down into the ground, he had to leap forwards, as metal spikes shot up from the floor, blocking their way out of the new room they were in. Breathing a quick sigh of relief, Link and Shade glanced all around them, seeing nothing in the murkiness of the huge hall they stood in, which had several raised platforms, all of which the two would have to leap up to climb.

Link searched all around them, looking for where they were meant to progress, looking for anything that could be covering up any hidden door. But he found nothing, the entire room was coated in an almost black stone, and had no marked entrance or exit, except for the block way that the two had just entered.

Walking carefully towards the centre of the room, Link looked up towards the ceiling, and like previous rooms, he saw another large black stone spider, matching the colour of the brickwork surrounding it. He moved his head down slightly, about to shake it in disbelief, before freezing in place. He snapped his head back up to the 'statue'.

"Shade…." He breathed, halting Shade, who was sniffing the ground for any scent. "Is it just me or are that spider's eyes following us?" He pointed with his sword up to the statue, which had all the details of a spider, including bright red eyes, that shined out in the gloominess of the room. Shade went silent, backing up, his fur raising in preparation.

Now knowing what was coming, Link too backed up, his sword and shield raised. On cue, the statue dropped the ceiling, sending invisible shockwaves out into Link and Shade as it landed. It stayed stationary for a brief while, before shaking itself vigorously, clearing itself from stonework.

Link gulped. "That's a big spider…"

The spider in question was twice as tall as Link was who roughly average height for Hylian males. It was also four times as long as it was tall, filling up the entire floor space of the room, pressing the duo into a corner, squeezed between platforms of differing levels.

The great beast rotated its large eyes all around its sockets, before focusing on the pair. It moved its front legs wider apart, and Link could see its fangs, as long as his entire thigh, and laced with a poison that dripped freely from them. Said poison was hissing and burning the floor when it dropped from the fangs, making Link fear what would happen were it to bite or even touch him.

Keeping his shield raised up high, Link stepped closer to Shade, who now had his hackles raised, baring his teeth at this new aggressor.

"Seems like there's only one way out of this…" Link sighed, as the huge spider charged at them, determined to end their lives.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Boss time! Will Link and Shade prevail over the enormous spider? Will they be able to find their way back to Castletown, or will they get dissolved by a spider's poison? Find out soon!_

_Thanks for reading this chapter of 'A hero and his wolf'. If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, and I will see you next time!_


	17. Fangs for coming (pun intended)

Scuttling forwards, the spider lunged at Link and Shade, who dived in opposite directions out of harm's way. The spider's moment kept it charging forwards, whilst Shade snuck underneath the spider's giant body, and took several ferocious nips at the back of its legs, before running away before it could retaliate. Though the bite marks from Shade looked ugly, slowly oozing blood, the spider didn't react. It calmly pivoted round on its eight feet, almost prancing as it did so, selecting which of the two would be its first target with its crimson eyes.

Link moved backwards from the spider, assessing what its weak points could be. The only obvious things that he noticed were its eight eyes, which were fairly exposed and vulnerable to an arrow or two. Mentally cursing himself for neglecting his bow this whole time, he reached for it now, whilst observing Shade athletically twist and dodge around the spider, as it hammered its legs down methodically, determined to crush the wolf into the floor. Every time the spider missed Shade, it had to stop to bring its leg back up for attack, allowing Shade to quickly rip and tear at what he could, before darting off again under shadow of the spider.

"Keep it up!" Link thought, slotting an arrow onto the bow, and raising it to his ear. Shade took one last nip at one of the spider's legs, before running under its dripping fangs. Spotting Shade, the spider chased after him, as Shade directed the spider towards Link's awaiting bow. As soon as Link could see the spider's eyes that were all primed on Shade, he let loose an arrow, which sailed through the air towards the spider.

At the last second, the spider glanced up to check where it was headed, and saw the approaching arrow in the process. Halting its chase on Shade, it leapt to the side, letting the arrow fly past its large body, clattering against the wall as it landed. Cursing silently, Link quickly grabbed another arrow and fired it off, again missing the spider as it this time crouched down, its body hitting the floor, and the arrow flying over its head.

Link now saw that the spider's fangs and face were on the same level as Shade, who was grizzling and staring straight into its eyes. He saw the spider begin to tense up, and knew that another lunge was coming, aimed straight for Shade.

"It's about to try and bite you!" he thought. "Jump up onto its eyes before it can land a hit on you!" This thought came in the nick of time, as the spider hurriedly clacked its fangs together, before moving its whole body forward to stun Shade. Shade had been prepared, and as the spider thrust forwards at his level, he leapt up onto the spider's head, shocking the spider.

"You've had it now…" Link thought, as Shade set to work on the spider's head. Shade's aggressiveness and fury could only be described as a maelstrom of jaws and claws, ripping and tearing at any eye that he could get a hold of. The spider screeched in agony, bucking its body up and down vigorously, trying to dislodge the grip of death that Shade had on its head. Shade was busy biting the eyes of the spider, leaving angry raw marks all around the sockets.

Link had not been standing idly by while this had been going on. He had replaced his bow at his side, and drawn his sword again. He ran to behind the screaming spider, preparing to attack it from behind. As he ran, he saw the spider begin to build up for a definitive buck forwards, trying to throw Shade off against the wall.

"Finish up and roll away!" Link thought, as the spider bent its rear legs downwards. Shade responded by taking a powerful snap at the largest of the spider's eyes, before jumping away and off the spider before it leapt upwards, effectively ripping the eye entirely out of its socket.

The spider bellowed in pain, wildly thrashing its head around, searching with its remaining eyes for Shade, who had darted back to Link whilst still gnawing on the remnants of the eye.

"My turn…" Link said, rushing forwards as the spider reared up onto its hind legs in pure fury, before thumping back down onto the stone floor. Its seven remaining eyes flashing red as it glared furiously at the approaching Link, who raised his sword to the level of the spider's fangs, which were pumping out venom at a dangerous rate.

Before the spider could move away out of Link's reach, Link had slashed precisely at the root of one fang, painfully fracturing it. The huge spider squealed, and flicked at Link with one of its legs to prevent him doing any more serious damage.

The leg caught Link painfully in his stomach, winding him deeply and throwing him to the floor with a sickening crack. The spider scuttled away alarmingly quickly, starting to climb the closest wall with its injured legs, it fang still intact but fractured.

Link was seeing stars as he forced himself up off the ground, gasping in pain. He reckoned with the pain in his chest and large crack that he had heard, the he had at least broken a rib, if not more. He granted himself no reprise, lifting his sword and shield that he had managed to hold on to. The pain increased tenfold by this simple movement, forcing him to drop to one knee, clutching a hand to his pained side.

Shade bounded over, concerned for Link. His advance was halted by Link pointing to the ceiling, and the spider. The spider had scaled the wall with ease, and was now staring down at the duo, its eyes all trained on them, with the gap from the missing eye dripping onto the floor below them.

Shade barked furiously at it, knowing that he couldn't reach the spider if it was on the ceiling, and his head searched all around him to scout for a way up. He needn't have worried, as the spider restarted the action by letting go of the ceiling and dropping down, flipping over so it landed on its feet. It was aiming to force Link to his feet and stop him completely, so he could be taken care of.

The force of the spider landing a good distance from Link sent shockwaves of pain through his chest, the cracked rib reverberating. He whimpered in agony, determined not to give up. Shade heard this noise and completely snapped. He leapt in front of Link, facing the spider, snarling like Link had never heard him before. Even the spider was halted by Shade's protectiveness, marvelling at how dedicated the wolf was towards his human.

"Easy, Shade…" Link breathed, steadily getting to his feet, but not raising sword nor shield. "There are other ways for me to fight. Just wait for him to move off…"

Link's sentence was completed by the spider backing up, and climbing the walls again, halting in the middle of the ceiling as it had done before. Shade jumped up and down angrily, knowing what it was planning.

Link took this opportunity by the throat, seeing that the spider's eyes were open and vulnerable up on the ceiling. Just as the spider was about to drop on top of them, Link hurriedly thrust his hand into the pouch at his right side containing the bladed boomerang, and instantaneously set it ripping through the air, heading straight for the eyes.

The blades connected with the spider's eyes as it dropped, sending large blood streaks and gouge marks through the all of the eyes, completely blinding it through the profuse bleeding and lack of vision. Squealing as it dropped, it did not have time to turn itself over onto its legs, it slammed forcefully into the hard floor on its back, leaving its softer belly exposed.

Shade was quicker off the mark than Link was, who was injured, and also waiting for the boomerang to return, which it did shortly. Shade wasted no time, leaping up onto the spider's soft underside, which he started gouging into, sending chunks of skin and muscle flying everywhere, softening it up for a finishing sword blow. Whilst doing so, he glanced up at Link who had now caught the boomerang, and was moving as quickly as possible over to the spider, whose legs were flailing in all directions.

The spider regained its composure, flipping itself over onto its feet, dropping Shade onto the stone floor, who yelped in surprise, before charging back over to Link's side. Link cursed himself for being slow, whilst the spider turned in all directions, unable to see. Unable to determine where they were, the spider started charging and scuttling in all directions randomly, trying to knock the duo over.

Link and Shade kept ducking and dodging, Link wincing with too much strenuous movement. Shade was expertly jumping over legs as they swept by, managing small nips at chunks of leg he had already bitten at, hurting the spider even further.

Link stopped to catch his breath in a corner, whilst Shade continued running with the spider, dodging nimbly all of the spider's blind attacks. As Link looked up, he saw in horror that the spider had now raised up all of the legs on one side of its body, preparing to slam them down all together. Shade was also on the same side as the rising legs were, and would be greatly damaged by the impact.

Without thinking twice, Link ripped and thrust the boomerang out of his pouch in one swift movement, sending it rotating towards the legs of the spider. As the spider stopped lifting its legs, the blades of the boomerang connected with the frail appendages, making a neat line all the roots of the legs, amputating them.

Surprised and in dire agony, the spider collapsed onto one side, blood flowing freely from the four fresh wounds, its legs strewn in a bloody pile near to it. Some blood splashed down and hit Shade in the face, only invigorating him. As the spider was now severely crippled, he leapt up onto its back, and set to work with the remaining four legs, snapping and tearing at the places they joined to its body.

Link managed to work up his resolve, and in pain, ran forwards and jumped up onto the spider's back as well, meeting up with Shade. Feeling the two heroes on its back, the spider screeched, moving its four functioning legs to try and shake them off, but it was a dying fight. As it lost more and more blood, the spider slowed right down to an absolute halt, almost letting Link and Shade have free reign over its body.

Shade kept ripping at the skin and bones of the spider's legs, whilst Link raised his sword up, ignoring the pain in his side. He aimed at one of the raw patches that Shade had eagerly made earlier, and thrust down powerfully, yelling as he did so. His sword made light work of the spider's skin and muscle, easily punching through to the innards of the spider. Link kept pushing his blade as the spider finally stopped moving its legs, letting out one more scream of agony.

Link raised his blade slightly from the muscle, before forcing his arm down as far as he could move it, piercing many vital organs that were necessary for the spider's vitality. Shade left the legs alone, joining in at Link's side. He latched onto the hole that Link had made with his sword with his blood coated jaws, and began pulling as hard as possible, tearing open the hole into a gaping wound, where one could easily poke their head inside and see the mangled mass of muscle and blood that had been keeping the spider alive.

The spider ceased all movement, clacking its large fangs together for the final time, its swan song. With that, its head slumped forwards onto the stone floor, stone cold dead.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well, one boss down. How many more? Nobody knows. _

_So with that, Link and Shade have cleared out the ancient place of Torma, Link picking up a new pair of gauntlets and a blades boomerang, as well as a cracked rib. Next chapter will wrap up Torma, and result in some TLC for Link and Shade._

_Thanks for reading this chapter of 'A hero and his wolf'. If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, and I will see you next time!_


	18. A voice from above

Link grunted in relief as he felt the spider stop dead, gently lifting his sword out of the gaping hole that he and Shade had made in its abdomen. The raw and exposed muscles were reluctant to relinquish their grasp on their sword, making a sickly sucking noise as Link pulled it clear from the body.

Having freed his sword from the grasp of the spider's muscles, Link glanced down at Shade. Shade had let go of the edge of the wound in the spider's back, where he had been ripping and pulling back to widen the wound. Dark blood covered his muzzle and paws, revealing just how much damage they had inflicted on the terrible beast. Shade was panting heavily, his large tongue flopping with each heavy breath, his whole body sagging up and down as he exhaled and inhaled.

Link was about to crouch down and pet Shade, but he heard a subtle crackling and popping noise, seemingly being emitted from within the spider. He glanced in the direction where he thought the noise was coming from, and saw the spider's carcass slowly dissolving into a large cloud of black dust and ash, moving from its far legs along its body.

"That's probably a sign we should get moving…" he said to Shade out loud, preparing to jump as he did so. Shade snapped to attention at this comment, and followed Link's direction of leaping off the spider, moments before the place where they had been standing on the spider vaporised into the dust cloud. Looking back at the body, Link saw that the last few legs were busy degrading into the ash and dust, with almost no trace of the spider or their fight having taken place, despite a few dents in the floor.

Once the entire body had been transformed into the large black cloud of dust and ashes, the cloud hung in mid-air for a few seconds, staring ominously down at the duo. However, it soon vanished from sight, the spider's remains no more.

Link sighed as he lost track of the cloud, swivelling his sword around his body and into the sheath on his back, hoisting his shield on top of it. He knelt down to Shade's level, thanking his lupine friend and ally for his actions. His cracked rib forced him to utter a slight wince of pain, but he hid it as best as he could from Shade.

"Great work there, Shade. You were insane!" he said brightly ruffling the fur alongside Shade bulky body. "You might want a bath though…" he remarked, looking at the long streaks and stains of blood that marked the length and breadth of Shade's fur, in sharp contrast to his dark fur. Having said this, Link glanced down at his own body and tunic, and grimaced as he saw the staining that had seemingly ruined his clothing. "That's going to be a pain to wash…"

Shade whined happily at the attention that Link was lavishing on him, although stopped slightly at the mention of the word 'bath.' He ignored it mainly, thinking that Link was joking.

Link stood up, glancing all around him, looking for what they were meant to do next. "That fight must have been the ultimate objective of our visit here, but I can't see a way out…"

Link scanned all over the room, searching for any door or ladder that they might leave from. He glanced back at the door that the two had entered through, and sighed in irritation when he saw that the spikes that prevented them from leaving were still in place.

Just as he glanced around again, his attention was drawn to the sound of Shade's barking. He looked over, and saw that Shade was barking up in the corner of the room, his nose pointing towards one of the high platforms. Taking a closer look, Link saw that a previously invisible doorway was now slowly coming into vision, although they were too far down to see where it would lead to.

"Shall we?" Link asked out loud, looking back down to Shade, who yapped again in confirmation. Link glanced up at the other platforms that they would have to climb in order to reach the doorway high above them. Starting off with the closest and lowest platform, Link helped Shade scramble up the sides, before heaving himself up. He felt his cracked rip twinge with small movements, but his main thought of getting out of Torma cancelled out the pain.

The two carried on like that for a short while, Link supporting Shade's rear as he leapt most of the way up the side of a platform, and then hoisting himself up to lift Shade up to the next one. Eventually, the two found themselves standing before the doorway which they had seen appear, Link sweating profusely from the exertion and his general exhaustion.

"This had better be the way out of this dingy dungeon…" he groaned, looking through the doorway. He was surprised to see more steps, leading even further up, illuminated by torches deeply buried in slots far within the walls of the spiralling staircase. However, this staircase was markedly different from the rest of the 'Green Tower', in the sense that this spiral was made of a dark wood, similar to the wood of the majority of trees in the forest.

"I suppose we've got no other option…" he grumbled, gingerly taking a step through the passageway, and onto the first step. Shade followed behind him, as the staircase was not wide enough for both of them to walk side by side.

Link heard every creak and sigh of the wooden steps as they made their way up, picking up the sound of Shade's claws scraping ever so slightly against the wood. The torches that had been placed every few turns in the spiral staircase gradually reduced in number, which perplexed Link, until he noticed that he could make out a non-torch light that was coming from further up the tower. Daylight!

Link picked up the pace at which they climbed the staircase, almost running towards the sunlight ahead. Shade bounded behind him, his large tail swishing from side to side, tapping the walls as he went. Gradually the light from higher p got brighter and brighter, until Link turned a final corner and could see bright blue sky above him.

Taking the last few steps up from the staircase, Link slowed down, taking casual paces and stared wistfully over the beautiful Hyrulian scene that lay before the pair of them. All around where they were standing were trees for many miles in all directions, all building up to the height of the tree on which they currently standing on. In the far distance, Link could make out the spires of Hyrule Castle glinting in the last afternoon sun, with the smoky peak of Death Mountain standing silently behind it. Looking in the other direction, he could also see the glistening waters of Lake Hylia, and further around the distant Gerudo Desert. Turning fully around, he looked further into the forest, to which he could see no end on the horizon, making the forest seem like it stretched into eternity, the emerald canopy melting into the distance.

Although he enjoyed taking in the scene that surrounded them, Link could shake off the knowledge that they were stuck on the top of a large tree, and by moving closer to the edge of the canopy, he could see that the only way down was to jump, which would not be ideal for either of them.

It was then that despite the golden sun beaming down on the two of them, Link felt and saw the back of his hand glow with the symbol of the Triforce. Checking on Shade's paw, he saw that it was illuminating on Shade as well, Shade staring down at it inquisitively.

As he looked back up to his own hand, he felt a great surge of energy enter his body, and a voice start to address them. A voice that flowed soothingly like water, and as sweet as honey.

"Well, well, well. You managed to survive your first ordeal, haven't you?"

Link said nothing, eyes wide as he wondered he could be saying these things. He searched all around the top of the tree for the source of the voice but could see no one saying these things.

"Ah, I'm afraid it is not in my place to directly appear to you in your realm. My apologies, but we goddesses have sworn to not to interfere directly in the life of mortals. Although, you are no ordinary pair of mortals."

"A goddess?" Link asked.

"Ah, forgive me. I am Farore, Goddess of Courage, and you guardian protector from on high."

Link wrapped his head around the fact of who he was talking to. However, he couldn't help noticing that the pain from his side was being soothed, and that he and Shade were being miraculously cleaned from the blood stains that covered both of them.

"There!" Farore's voice giggled. "Can't have my chosen heroes looking dishevelled and broken. No, no. You both might have come from the forest originally, but that does not determine who you shall be known."

Link built up his courage to ask a question, which did not go unnoticed by Farore. "I feel your courage swell within you, which is a blessing and relief. Tell me Link, what is you want to know?"

"Three things…" Link said, stroking Shade's head as his wolf came up to his side. "One, have I done everything necessary in Torma? Secondly, did you just clean us, and thirdly, how are we going to get down now?"

Farore's voice came laughing exuberantly. "Oh how I love the thoughts of my chosen heroes! Yes, you certainly don't change much. Although you are an exception, in the fact that you have a wolf as a proper companion." The voice halted, before continuing a few seconds later.

"Your task here in Torma and the Green Tower has been completed. There was no real evil or any problem that you had to solve. It was purely a primary test of your courage and fighting skills. I must say that I enjoyed watching you two fight that spider, even if it did end up being fairly gory thanks to Shade."

Shade barked at this, and Link realised that he could understand what Farore was saying as well. "Just doing what he was trained to do!" he joked.

"Hmm, yes. Anyways, yes I did clean you two up, as well as heal that cracked rib of yours Link. Although, you might want to have a full night's sleep before you continue with your journey. But I'll leave that information for her majesty to reveal to you. I fear that time is growing short."

"Why?" Link asked, probing.

"You'll find out why…" Farore replied solemnly, before her bouncing voice returned. "To answer your final question, you'll find a solution to your problem behind once we finish talking, AND NOT BEFORE."

"Got it!" Link gulped, as Shade ducked his head at Farore's sudden loudness.

"Sorry for shouting!" Farore gushed. "It's just that I can't let you see my work at sight."

"No problem." Link responded warily. "What else did you want to talk to us about?"

"Enjoy Hyrule as it is for the time being…" Farore warned sombrely. "Soon it will be unrecognisable as it currently is, and you will have to use all of your skills and work together to return Hyrule to its glory. I cannot interfere, it is just how fate has decided history will play out. But you can determine how it will end. Be strong, don't give and you two will see that the light is returned to Hyrule."

Farore's voice died down quietly, before speaking for one final time. "I will speak to you again. Until then, farewell. Oh, and mind yourself on the way down."

With her voice gone, Link and Shade glanced behind them, where a small chute had now appear in place of the spiral staircase where they had originally come up.

"Okay…" Link whispered in disbelief, cautiously inspecting the chute. He glanced down the twisting slide, unable to see where it would lead them. He glanced down at Shade, who was making it clear that he was not comfortable about the circumstances. Link rolled his eyes, and said, "Come on, you can ride at the same time as me if you are timid…"

Shade grizzled at this remark, and begrudgingly leapt into the chute, which sent him flying down a fast dark tunnel, his yelps audible all the way at the top. Link chuckled as he prepared himself for the chute. "I didn't think that would work…"

Having experienced the chute for himself and all of its twists and turns, Link was relieved to reach the bottom, which sent him sprawling across the muddy ground of the forest, where Shade awaited him. Shade stared at Link indignantly, in a slight huff.

"Hey, you had to go down one way or another…" Link said out loud, to which Shade only turned his head away. Sighing comically, Link reached behind him into his satchel, and withdrew some cold meat. Shade's head snapped back around to Link as he caught the smallest whiff of meat, and came trotting over, completely forgetting what had just happened to him.

Link placed a few slices into Shade's mouth, and watched as Shade gobbled them down quickly, savouring the flavour and texture. Link had some himself, as well as a quick bite of bread, whilst looking all around them. He saw nearby the entrance to Torma which they had entered what felt like an age ago, but in reality had only been a few hours.

"That must mean that Epona is nearby…" Link thought. Scanning the treeline nearby, Link saw Epona still standing near to the river that he had last seen her at, and laughed as she lifted her head up as she saw the two of them standing there. She trotted over, neighing happily at being reunited with them, accepting Link petting her mane and face.

"Atta girl…" Link whispered, signalling to Shade to leap up onto Epona's back. Shade finished licking his lips for the meaty flavour, and leapt onto Epona's back, with Link's assistance as usual. Saddling up himself, Link took one last look at the entrance to Torma, the wooden shack which did not reflect what they had just been through and the horrors within.

Turning his head around for good, Link urged Epona onwards and away from Torma, starting the long and tiresome journey back to Hyrule, Epona's hooves squelching in the soft mud for the majority of the way. He did notice that the guays and keese had vanished from their perches on his way back, but paid little thought to it. He was just relieve to have survived his first challenge.

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><p><em>AN: Well, another chapter done! Not a great deal happened, but it helped flesh the story out for the long run. What to expect next time? Link finding out where he and Shade are headed next! Hopefully you can wait until then!_

_Thanks for reading this chapter of 'A hero and his wolf!" If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, and I will see you next time!_


	19. Onto the next

Sitting. Sleeping. Staring. All that Ganondorf could do.

"Hm?" He felt a strange twinge in his right hand, and flipped his hand over so that the back of it was facing his eye line. He was disappointed to see that the Triforce of Power had not returned, but he felt something more… A sensation coming from another of the Triforce pieces.

"So, the Triforce of Courage is truly awakening…" he grunted, balling his fist up. "Time is running short."

It was many hours later that Epona clopped onto the drawbridge leading into Castletown, her chestnut hair and white mane almost glowing in the late evening sun that drenched Hyrule. Link drooped sleepily in the saddle, knowing that he couldn't yet sleep. He sighed, knowing that it would be best if they made their way up to the castle and spoke with Zelda before returning to the barracks for a good sleep.

Link felt Shade shift behind him, and glanced over his shoulder at the wolf. Shade was busy nosing the satchel at Link's side, which contained the exorbitant amount of food which they had brought, not knowing how long Torma would take them to overcome. Link chuckled, reaching into the bag and gave Shade a large hunk a cuccoo meat.

"Always thinking with your stomach, eh Shade?" Link joked as Shade wolfed the meat down, relishing all the flavour with his large tongue. Link's attention was brought back to the bridge as he met as usual two guards standing on either side of the main gate into Castletown.

"Stop!" one of them shouted. Link brought Epona to a steady halt, confused as to why he needed to be stopped.

"Just what business do you have her…" the same guard continued, before taking a closer look at Link, and noticing Shade on Epona's back, who was beadily eying the guards whilst licking his lips ominously.

"Oh, Link! Sorry, I just didn't recognize who it was!" the guard spluttered, readily standing aside to let them through. Link thought about shaking his head disdainfully, but shoved that thought the back of his mind, instead choosing to take it lightly.

"No worries…" he said quietly. "We've been riding for hours, and still have important things to do before we can sleep. If you'll excuse us…" With that, he spurred Epona onwards past the guards, and on into the market square.

As Epona trotted through the marketplace, Link saw that all of the vendors and merchants were closing shop for the day, and the good townspeople were generally milling around, seeking last minute deals on cheap clothing and the like. Link and Shade attracted a few looks of acknowledgement from the townsfolk who were there, drawn by the glinting of Shade's armour in the dying sunlight. Not wanting to be swarmed just as any other figurehead would have been, Link urged Epona onwards, shifting quickly through the market stands, and soon making their way up the hill to Hyrule Castle perched on top.

As they approached the gates protecting the entrance to Hyrule Castle, Link was expecting to have the same malarkey happen to them with the guards, but fortunately the guards outside the Castle gates were more experience, and recognized Link, Shade and the Knight's badge that Link had pinned to his green tunic.

"Ah, Link and Shade. I take it you have come to see her majesty?" one guard asked, saluting as he let Link ride by through the gates.

"Yes, it might become a regular occurrence." Link replied, slowing down Epona, before he and Shade both got off her back.

"Tell me, has anything happened since we were last here?" Link asked, as Epona was spirited away by the same stable boy before, taken into the luxurious royal stables.

"Not really…" the guard answered. "No more attacks, but there has been no word of recovery from his majesty…" He dipped his head slightly. "Still, here's hoping for the best."

Link smiled kindly in response, before leading Shade up the grand steps into the main hall of the castle. As they entered, they were greeted by the same butler as before, who immediately recognized Shade, and that he had upset the wolf. Shade had forgotten, but the Butler was still apprehensive about greeting the wolf.

"Ah, Master Link!" he exclaimed, beckoning for both to follow him. "Her majesty is currently relaxing in an upstairs sitting room, talking with several of the suitors. Given your involvement in rescuing them, it should be no problem for you two to 'interrupt' their talk."

"If they are talking about important things, then we can wait…." Link started whilst they followed behind the butler up a flight of grand marble stairs , before both he and Shade yawned simultaneously. He cringed as the butler looked melodramatically at them. "I swear we're not tired!" he added.

"Of course not, sir." The butler laughed. "No, it should be no problem." The butler had now led Link and Shade to a smooth oak door that was firmly shut, with the flickering light of a roaring fire visible from the gap between the bottom of the door and the plush carpet. "One minute, if you will…"

The butler carefully knocked on the door, before opening it slightly and popping his head around the corner. He exchanged a few hushed words with the occupants of the room, before nodding his head and turning back to Link and Shade.

"She's ready for you to enter, Link."

Quickly dusting his tunic off from any dust that could have possible settled on it, Link led Shade into the awaiting sitting room. His eyes were drawn to the figures that were all sitting around a large oak table in the middle of an arrangement of sofas and sitting chairs. Sitting at the far end of the table in one of the chairs was Princess Zelda, engaged in conversation with one of the suitors, whilst all of the other few suitors in the room were idly looking around, bored out of their minds.

Zelda's gaze was drawn towards the light flashing off of Shade's armour as he walked, and moved her head fully towards Link and Shade, irritating the suitor she had been talking to. He too turned his head to see what had stopped her, but instead of being angry, was relieved to see that Link too had met his gaze.

Link was glad to see that the suitor Zelda had been talking to was Prince Reynolds, suggesting that they were getting on the best out of all the suitors. He turned back to Prince Zelda, before bowing respectfully. "Your majesty…" He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Shade too had bowed his head slightly, and heard a quiet snickering from some of the suitors, who were quickly silenced by angry glares from Zelda and Reynolds.

"Ah, Link and Shade. I see that you two have returned without serious injury!" she exclaimed, before standing up to address the suitors. "Gentlemen, may I please ask you to give us some time together? I will invite you all back in once we have talked."

"Of course." Reynolds replied, standing up whilst nodding to Link. He quickly walked out of the room, followed by the disgruntled suitors, who all shook their heads in disbelief that they had been displaced. Once the door had been firmly shut, Zelda sighed in relief.

"It is such a shame that most of them cannot see past their own ego to understand what is necessary." She huffed, rubbing her temples in stress.

"Well, I wouldn't say that about Prince Reynolds…" Link smiled, earning the same from Zelda.

"True." She blushed slightly, before her eye gravitated to the coloured animal skin that hung at Link's side. "Is that what you found in Torma?"

Link's own eyes traced where Zelda was looking, and undid the top of the skin. He was halted by Zelda asking another inquisitive question. "Are they new gauntlets as well?"

"Yeah, I guess I received a lot from the 'Green Tower' and Torma…" Link shrugged, withdrawing the bladed boomerang from the skin. As the golden glow from the crackling fire in the corner lit up the shining blades and the glinting red stone in the centre. Zelda gasped in awe as she saw it, almost appearing as if it were shining by itself.

"Oh wow…" she breathed, taking a step closer to look at it. "I guess that you've used it?"

Link nodded grimly. "This tore off the legs of an enormous spider that was trying to kill both of us, so it definitely works."

"So, the first challenge is complete then…" Zelda exclaimed, before halting as her eyes fixated on the red stone. Her brow furrowed in thought, before her eyes widened in realisation. She began to smile sarcastically whilst saying, "Oh, so that's the game the goddesses are playing." She shook her head in disbelief. "I was wondering where they would appear…"

"Wait, what?" Link asked, staring down at the stone himself. "What are you talking about?"

Zelda looked at him mischievously. "Oh, I can't reveal in the ways in which the goddesses work, but you'll find out the significance of that stone and the others very soon."

Link looked at her incredulously, whilst Shade shuffled off to slump in front of the fire grill, completely zoning out of the conversation. Zelda watched this and giggled. "Did he have a tough day then?"

Link glanced over to Shade, who was lying down, and staring at the pair of them with his amber eyes that were rapidly filling with sleep. "He was incredible. Together we ended the lives of many spiders." He shuddered, despite the warmth in the room. "I'm just dreading what we have to do next… whatever it is."

Zelda smirked. "Well, I can tell you where you two will be headed." She moved back to her large chair, and sat down. Breathing deeply, she asked, "What do you know of the Gorons?"

Link paused, racking his brain for memories of Gorons. "Honestly, I don't think that I've ever met a Goron, or seen one in real life for that matter. I've heard many stories about them though. They're strong hardy warriors, with a strong sense of brotherhood and respect."

"Yes, but in recent years they've tended to be more diplomatic in problems, rather than just thinking that brute strength is the solution to every problem." Zelda remarked, twiddling a finger through some of her long golden hair. "The reason I asked is that where you two are going next will be near to the home of the Gorons on Death Mountain, Goron City."

"Death Mountain?" Link asked, slightly nervously. "Hasn't it been acting up in recent months for no apparent reason… Oh." Link began before realisation hit him like a wall. "Are you seriously making go in there to solve a problem that no one can understand?"

"Well… Yes." Zelda admitted. "The Gorons will be able to show you where you need to go, but not much further. Show them your boomerang…" she gestured to Link's side, "and they will know who you are."

"Really? How?" Link asked, puzzled as to how a boomerang could prove who he was.

"Oh, you'll find out." Zelda smiled.

"Are you taking enjoyment out of our possible suffering, your majesty?" Link asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No…" Zelda said hurriedly. "But I'm warning you. You barely got scathed from Torma, but you will not go unharmed in Death Mountain." She sighed, rubbing the onsets of sleep from her eyes. "Sorry to be so downbeat, but I can't let anything happen. Take a day off if you want to, and remember to take stuff that can sooth burns and singes. Especially in Shade's case…" he said, glancing over to Shade's slumped form, fast asleep besides the fire. He snored loudly every so often, the sound reverberating throughout the room.

After a short silence, Link could feel that his muscles were beginning to give into the sleep that the two other people in the room were suffering from, and so he spoke up. "If that is all, I'll carry Shade back to the barracks, and head up to Death Mountain when convenient in the next two days."

He moved over to Shade's sleeping form, and grunted as he managed to pick up Shade's heavy body without waking the slumbering wolf, hoisting his head over his shoulder. Turning around towards the door, Zelda called out, "Link, good luck. I fear that you'll need it. Be strong with the Gorons, they can be a bit frosty to strangers, but they'll thaw out to you."

Link grimaced. "Let's hope so."

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><p><em>AN: A potential day off for a hero? No such possible thing! And what of Ganondorf? Will he recover his power before Link achieves his tasks? Find out soon!_

_Thanks for reading this chapter of 'A hero and his wolf'. If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review, and I will see you next time!_


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